‘Our sacred uranium is not going anywhere,’ Iran tells Trump

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Tensions increased on Saturday when Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz again in response to the US naval blockade.

President Trump said Friday that US-Iran negotiations could begin as soon as the weekend and predicted a deal would follow quickly, even as Iranian officials pushed back on key issues, including uranium enrichment, and tensions rose after Tehran again blocked the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking about the talks, Trump said there were “no sticking points,” despite warnings from both US and Iranian officials that major issues remain unresolved. He also addressed Iran’s nuclear program, saying the US would remove enriched uranium at a “leisurely pace.”

“We’re going to get it by going in with Iran, with lots of excavators,” Trump later said at the conservative Turning Point USA movement in Phoenix, Arizona. “We’re going to take it back home to the USA very soon.”

Iranian officials rejected that approach. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told Iranian state media that “the transfer of uranium to the US has not been presented as an option.”

He added, “Iran’s enriched uranium is as sacred to us as the soil of Iran and will under no circumstances be transferred anywhere.”

Baghaei also outlined Tehran’s priorities in the negotiations, saying that “the lifting of sanctions is of great importance to us, compensation for the damages incurred is a particular priority for Iran.”

Iranian sources told CNN that talks could resume Monday in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad, though Tehran’s parliament speaker and top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf did not agree with this assessment.

Tensions increased on Saturday when Iran blocked the Strait of Hormuz again in response to the US naval blockade.

Trump downplayed the move while continuing to express optimism about the negotiations.

Iran “got a little cute” by blocking the Strait of Hormuz, President Trump said, adding that talks are “working really well.” He said, “They wanted to close up the strait again,” and maintained that “they can’t blackmail us.”

The developments reflect ongoing divisions between Washington and Tehran over both the pace and substance of negotiations, as officials on both sides continue to signal sharply different positions.