An official from the Trump administration has issued an ultimatum to Iran that it will not receive much if it does not forgo its resources that could be used to develop nuclear weapons
US President Donald Trump’s administration has issued an ultimatum to Tehran as the world waits with bated breath to see if Iran will forgo its enriched uranium.
An official from Trump’s camp said on Sunday, May 24, “no dust, no dollars” for Iran. This means that Iran will receive no sanctions relief unless it gives up its enriched uranium.
A memorandum of understanding was announced on Saturday by Trump, which would reopen the Strait of Hormuz while allowing another 30 days for nuclear negotiations.
The strait has been closed by Iran since the conflict started almost three months ago when the US and Israel carried out joint strikes on several key Iranian sites.
Trump officials said that no deal was imminent and that it would take at least five to seven days to finalise any agreement.
“Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
A senior administration official said that Iran will not gain much if it does not without fulfil promises to surrender its enriched uranium.
The administration official told reporters: “95% is done, but literally changing words requires days of deliberation in their system.”
“No dust, no dollars — in other words, no highly enriched uranium, then the Iranians aren’t going to get any real relief.”
“If they do nothing, they get nothing. If they do a lot, they can actually get a lot.”
The same top Trump official said in a Sunday afternoon briefing that Trump’s camp will “get a better deal” than the Obama administration’s multinational Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) pact.
JCPOA allowed Iran to continue some enrichment.
The official said that “there were pallets of cash, and we did fly $1.7 billion of money from American banks there, and they used it to build centrifuges and finance terrorism”.
US and Iranian negotiators are currently discussing an outright ban on enrichment spanning decades, though the precise time period is undecided.
“No one disputes that the stockpiled enriched material will be disposed of. It’s a question about how,” the official said.
“And then simultaneously, while we’re figuring out that question of how, we’re going to have this thing where the strait open, the blockade is lifted and we get the economy some breathing room.”
