Iran agrees in principle to give up highly enriched uranium, White House official says
Iran has agreed in principle to dispose of its highly enriched uranium negotiations with the USalthough it is possible that the agreement will not be signed this weekend, said a senior official of the Trump administration on Sunday morning.
The official said the US believes Iran’s supreme leader has approved a draft agreement, but a final agreement still needs to be made before anything can be signed.
“The Iranian system is annoyingly slow and insecure, and if I were playing devil’s advocate, you know, I’m sure there are people who suspect us and what has happened in the last few months of that fact,” the official said.
The deal will be a two-step process, with the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz to lift the US blockade, followed by talks on how Iran will abandon various parts of its nuclear program, the official said.
The US wants Iran to commit to giving up highly enriched uranium and resolve other nuclear issues, the official said. The official said the administration believes this is a better deal than the 2015 deal negotiated under former President Barack Obama, which allowed nuclear enrichment up to a certain level.
Officials were still working out the details of the plan for how the uranium would be destroyed with the people the supreme leader had authorized to negotiate.
There are no side conflicts that will be resolved by the collection of enriched materials, the question is how it happens now, said the official. The Iranians have not set a final timeline for how long the delayed enrichment will last, the official said.
The official also said “I think we’re actually in a very good place” to make a deal.
“We’re in a place where we can find issues, where we can’t achieve the president’s goals when it comes to nuclear weapons, but I actually think there are serious ways, you know, the narrative that exists can undermine a positive outcome for the country,” the official added.
As a condition of the deal, the US will lift its embargo on ships entering and leaving Iranian ports. There will be communication between the US Central Command and the Gulf countries to ensure that ships can pass safely, but that communication should not be understood as a payment system, said the official. It will be a two-step process.
Vice President JD Vance, Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner participated in the talks. The US is trying to engage all members of the Middle East, the official said.
The official said the US “cannot force the Iranian people to overthrow their government,” and the Trump administration “will deal with the government we have now in Iran.”
Mr. Trump said on Saturday that the peace deal is “very much under discussion,” but tweeted a day later that he told his representatives “not to rush to make a deal” and that “time is on our side.”
The difference between now and when the first six-week military campaign ends, “we’re seeing the Iranians make a critical accommodation with these questions that we haven’t seen before.”
