President Donald Trump said Monday that the United States is prepared to take control of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium if Tehran refuses to reach a nuclear agreement, signaling a sharp escalation following the breakdown of negotiations.
Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump explained that talks mediated by Pakistan fell apart primarily because of the central issue of Iran’s nuclear ambitions. “over the fact that they will never have a nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” he said, while noting that Iranian officials are still indicating interest in continuing discussions.
“We’ve been called by the other side,” Trump said. “They’d like to make a deal very badly.” He added that “we’re gonna get the dust back,” referring to Iran’s existing uranium reserves. “We’ll [either] get it back from Iran or we’ll take it.”
Turning to the U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which was launched earlier Monday, Trump defended the move as necessary to prevent global coercion, stating that “we can’t let a country blackmail or extort the world.”
