U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said Iranian negotiators boasted earlier this year that they possessed enough highly enriched uranium to build 11 nuclear bombs, describing the remarks as the opening stance in nuclear talks with Tehran.
In an interview with Fox News, Witkoff said that during the first round of negotiations, Iranian officials told U.S. representatives “with no shame” that they controlled 460 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, and acknowledged that it could be used to produce 11 nuclear weapons.
“That was the beginning of their negotiating stance,” Witkoff said. “They were proud of it. They were proud that they had evaded all sorts of oversight protocols to get to a place where they could deliver 11 nuclear bombs.”
Witkoff said Iran’s total stockpile amounts to roughly 10,000 kilograms of fissionable material, including about 460 kilograms enriched to 60%, approximately 1,000 kilograms enriched to 20%, and the remainder enriched to 3.67%.
He said the 60% enriched uranium could be raised to 90% — considered weapons-grade — within about a week to 10 days. Material enriched to 20% could reach weapons-grade within three to four weeks, he added.
However, U.S. officials have also asserted that American strikes last year destroyed or severely damaged Iran’s nuclear facilities, which would limit Tehran’s ability to convert enriched uranium into a functional weapon.
Witkoff said Iranian negotiators also insisted they had an “inalienable right” to enrich nuclear fuel.
“We responded that the president feels we have the inalienable right to stop you dead in your tracks,” Witkoff said, referring to President Donald Trump.
Witkoff said Trump dispatched him and Jared Kushner to pursue a deal under which Iran would agree to eliminate its missile program, cease support for proxy groups, dismantle its navy “so we can have freedom of the seas,” and halt nuclear enrichment.
“We went in there and tried to make a fair deal with them, and it was very, very clear that it was going to be impossible — probably by the end of the second meeting,” Witkoff said. He said the U.S. delegation returned for a third round of talks “just to give it the last college try.”
“They wanted us to report positivity. It was not positive, that meeting,” he added.