Even as signs of a possible diplomatic breakthrough emerged between the United States and Iran over ending the ongoing conflict, Tehran's highly enriched uranium stockpile has become a major sticking point in negotiations.
The fresh deadlock follows reports that Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei declared that the country's near-weapons-grade uranium would not be sent abroad — directly clashing with one of Washington's key demands.
Responding to the development, Donald Trump said the US would not allow Iran to retain highly enriched uranium.
"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," Trump said when asked whether Iran could keep its uranium stockpile.
"Right now, we're negotiating, and we'll see, but we're going to get it one way or the other. They're not going to have a nuclear weapon," he added.
Trump also said negotiations were continuing under the ongoing truce process, while reiterating that Tehran would never be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.
The US president further claimed that Iran is losing nearly USD 500 million every day due to restrictions around the Strait of Hormuz, while praising the role of the US Navy in enforcing the blockade around the key shipping route.
"We want it open, we want it free, we don't want tolls," Trump said, describing the strait as an international waterway.
According to Iran's semi-official Fars News Agency, Washington has demanded that Tehran hand over nearly 400 kilograms of highly enriched uranium and restrict nuclear operations to a single facility.
The United States and Iran have been exchanging proposals in recent weeks in an effort to end the West Asia conflict that erupted on February 28. So far, the two sides have held one formal round of talks under a fragile ceasefire that came into effect on April 8.
Meanwhile, Iran has reiterated its strategic leverage over the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most critical oil shipping routes. According to ISNA, Tehran has maintained that it controls the strait, which it claims has already been closed, and intends to impose charges on vessels passing through the route.
According to Reuters, Israeli officials said Trump had assured Israel that Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium — material that could potentially be used to build an atomic weapon — would be removed from the country as part of any peace agreement.
Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not consider the war to be over until Iran's enriched uranium stockpile was removed.
The remarks come amid a shaky ceasefire that halted the conflict between the US-Israel alliance and Iran. Since the first strikes on February 28, Iran has targeted Gulf states hosting US military bases, while clashes have also broken out between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Reuters quoted two senior Iranian sources as saying that there is deep suspicion within Iran that the current pause in hostilities could be a tactical move by Washington to create a false sense of security before launching fresh airstrikes.
On Wednesday, Iran's top peace negotiator Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said that "obvious and hidden moves by the enemy" suggested the Americans were preparing for new attacks.
