WASHINGTON, May 26: US President Donald Trump said Iran’s enriched uranium can be turned and destroyed in the US, but his preference is for it to be destroyed “in place” or at “another acceptable location,” under the supervision of the IAEA.
Trump’s comment marks a shift in his repeated statements that Iran hand over its enriched uranium to the US as a sticking point of any potential deal.
“The Enriched Uranium (Nuclear Dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location, with the Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event,”
Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
On Monday, Trump said negotiations with Iran to end the war were progressing “nicely” and urged countries involved in the peace talks to sign on to the Abraham Accords, which deal with establishing diplomatic, economic and security ties between Israel and Arab nations.
He said it would be an honour to have Iran as a signatory to the Accords.
“…after all the work done by the United States to try and pull this very complex puzzle together, it should be mandatory that all of these Countries, at a minimum, simultaneously, sign onto the Abraham Accords,” Trump said, adding that it may be accepted if one or two have a reason for not doing so.
Among the negotiators, the UAE and Bahrain are already members of the Accords, and Trump expects Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt and Jordan to sign up.
On criticism of the possible deal with Iran from within the Republican party, Trump asserted that the draft under negotiation was the “exact opposite” of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) finalised under the then President Barack Obama.
“The deal with Iran will either be a great and meaningful one, or there will be no deal. It will be the exact opposite of the JCPOA disaster negotiated by the failed Obama Administration, which was a direct and open path to a Nuclear Weapon for Iran.
No, I don’t do deals like that,” Trump said.
“It will only be a Great Deal for all or, no Deal at all — Back to the Battlefront and shooting, but bigger and stronger than ever before — And nobody wants that,” he said in a separate post on Truth Social. (Agencies)
