US President Donald Trump has again pledged to seize Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium as part of any agreement over Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“Look, we’re going to make sure they don’t have a nuclear weapon or we’re going to have to do something very drastic. I believe when it’s put to the people of our country, they will all agree we cannot let Iran get a nuclear weapon,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
Asked whether Iran could retain its enriched uranium, Trump replied: “No, we will get it. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, we’ll probably destroy it after we get it. But we’re not going to let them have it.”
Earlier reports quoted Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei as saying Iran’s uranium would not leave the country, though a senior Iranian official later dismissed those claims as “propaganda by the enemies of the deal”.
Speaking anonymously to Al Jazeera, the official said Iran’s position remained unchanged and that Tehran would “downblend” the enriched uranium itself.
“That is the subject of talks in the next stage,” the official said.
