Amid fraught discussions between President Trump and Iran’s fragmented leadership over the regime’s insistence on maintaining its nuclear enrichment system, top experts on Iran’s nuclear weapons program are backing the commander-in-chief’s ironclad goal to disband it.
One of the main sticking points during the intensive talks between Tehran and Washington centers on Iran’s claim that the rogue regime has the right to enrich and possess weapons-grade uranium, the material needed to build a nuclear bomb.
The confrontation over enriched uranium could be at the heart of the deal-breaker issue when and if the next round of talks to reach a nuclear deal in Pakistan goes ahead.
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Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei vehemently rejected Trump’s demand on state-controlled television last week.
“Iran’s enriched uranium will not be transferred anywhere under any circumstances,” Baqaei stated.
President Donald Trump signs a proclamation to withdraw from the JCPOA nuclear deal with Iran on May 8, 2018 in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Trump claimed that Iran had agreed to “give us back the nuclear dust that lies deep underground.” The president describes Iran’s 440 kilograms of enriched uranium as “nuclear dust,” following continued US military attacks on Iranian sites where Iran’s stockpile of uranium is stored.
“This means a permanent ban on enrichment, reprocessing and armaments capabilities and, just as importantly, full verification of Iran’s compliance with these restrictions.”
Iran’s president calls for negotiations and dialogue as nuclear talks continue
Heavy weapons, including ballistic missiles, air defense systems and unmanned aerial vehicles, are on display during the 44th anniversary of the eight-year war with Iraq, known as Holy Defense Week, in Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, September 25, 2024. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
In 2018, President Trump withdrew from President Obama’s much-criticized nuclear deal with Iran, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
“In theory, the so-called ‘Iran deal’ should protect the United States and our allies from the madness of an Iranian nuclear bomb, a weapon that will only endanger the survival of the Iranian regime,” Trump said at the time. “In effect, the deal allowed Iran to continue enriching uranium and over time reach the brink of a nuclear breakout.”
Ruhe said: “The JCPOA failed to guarantee the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] Inspectors would be able to monitor and account for Iran’s entire program and compliance with the deal. This problem has worsened significantly over the past decade as Iran systematically blocked inspectors.
“Iran’s negotiators always drag out talks and avoid giving clear answers. They still think time is on their side as their blockade hurts the global economy and their missile arsenals are being dug out and prepared for a new conflict. Trump must push for a definitive answer from Tehran and be ready for renewed operations.”
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Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attends a demonstration marking Jerusalem Day in Tehran. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“As a warning, the Obama team first started nuclear talks with strict red lines, but then they called Iran’s bluff, ignored their deadlines and watered down their demands until we ended up at the JCPOA,” Ruhe said.
Iran has signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which obliges the country not to enrich uranium for military purposes. However, US and European intelligence reports have documented Iran’s illegal proliferation activities.
Ruhe said: “This regime cynically wants to have it both ways: they insist that the NPT provides the ‘right’ to peaceful enrichment, yet they ignore the treaty’s guarantees. By claiming this ‘right’, they are trying to make certain core issues non-negotiable. By this logic, they should maintain the enrichment capacity. The question then becomes how much and what should the US give in return for this supposed sacrifice by Iran.
“As the name of the Non-Proliferation Treaty indicates, it is an agreement to prevent proliferation, not to promote nuclear development.”
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Stricker said Rafael Grossi, the head of the IAEA, recently said: “It is fiction that the NPT specifically mentions ‘enrichment’ in its peaceful uses clause. Furthermore, the prevailing legal requirement from the UN Security Council is that Iran stop enriching and return to compliance with its non-proliferation obligations.”
For almost 25 years, the IAEA has failed to conclude that all of Iran’s nuclear material and activities are for peaceful uses.
She added that “Iran’s enrichment program began with illegal purchases and secret facilities, under a nuclear weapons program that planned to use enriched uranium as fuel. Iran was clearly stockpiling material for an apparent nuclear weapons outbreak.”
