(Dave DeCamp, Antiwar.com) President Trump on Monday contradicted a report from Axios that said the US had delivered a proposal to Iran that would allow Tehran to enrich uranium at a low level for its civilian nuclear program.
“The AUTOPEN should have stopped Iran a long time ago from ‘enriching,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Under our potential Agreement — WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!”
Other US officials have been publicly demanding that Iran eliminate its enrichment program altogether, a condition Tehran has made clear is a non-starter. But the Axios report said the US is showing flexibility on the issue.
Sources told Axios that the offer put forward by US envoy Steve Witkoff describes “preliminary ideas” to be discussed in the next round of negotiations.
Under the outline, Iran would not be allowed to build any new enrichment facilities and must “dismantle critical infrastructure for conversion and processing of uranium.” Iran would also have to halt new research and development on centrifuges and would not be able to develop enrichment capabilities beyond those necessary for civilian purposes.
Once the agreement is signed, Iran would have to limit its uranium enrichment to 3% for an undetermined period of time. The 2015 nuclear deal, known as the JCPOA, capped Iranian nuclear enrichment at 3.67%.
According to the Witkoff proposal, the idea of a deal would be to establish a regional enrichment consortium. In exchange, Iran would receive sanctions relief once the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were satisfied with its progress.
Other media reports conflicted with what Axios reported, including one from The New York Times, which said the US proposal demanded Iran immediately cease uranium enrichment. Sources told the Times that the US called for the establishment of a regional consortium to produce nuclear power, which would include Saudi Arabia and other Arab states.
Reuters also reported that the US proposal included the demand for Iran to stop enriching uranium and cited Iranian sources who said Tehran was poised to reject the offer. “In this proposal, the US stance on enrichment on Iranian soil remains unchanged, and there is no clear explanation regarding the lifting of sanctions,” a source told the outlet.
Exploring a deal that allows Iranian uranium enrichment puts the Trump administration at odds with virtually every Republican in Congress and the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Both the hawks in the US and Israel are demanding that any deal must eliminate Iran’s enrichment program altogether, a condition they’re likely pushing knowing it would sabotage diplomacy and bring the US and Iran closer to war.
While President Trump has been pursuing diplomacy with Iran, he has also been threatening to bomb the country if a deal isn’t reached. The threats have continued even though US intelligence agencies recently reaffirmed that there’s no evidence Tehran is building a bomb or that Khamenei has reversed his ban on the development of nuclear weapons.
This article originally appeared at Antiwar.com.
