'I didn’t even finish reading it': How 'garbage' from Iran led Trump to keep pushing for a deal

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump on Monday, May 11, accused Iran of backing away from an earlier understanding that would have allowed the United States to remove Tehran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, while also signaling he remains open to continued negotiations with the current Iranian leadership.

He said Iran had previously indicated it would allow the US to retrieve the enriched uranium buried beneath nuclear facilities damaged in last year’s strikes, but claimed the concession was omitted from the latest written proposal delivered to Washington.

Trump says Iran reversed position on uranium removal

Trump said Iranian negotiators had initially agreed that the US would be permitted to remove enriched uranium from sites struck during American military operations. 

“They did two days ago,” Trump said when asked whether Iran had backed away from the understanding. “But they changed their mind, because they didn’t put it in the paper.”

According to Trump, Iranian officials told the administration that the uranium could only be retrieved by a small number of countries because of the scale of destruction at the nuclear facilities. 

“They told me, number one, you’re getting it, but you’re going to have to take it out,” Trump said. “The site was so obliterated that there’s only one or two countries in the world that could get it.”

Trump added that Iran had told him China was the only other country capable of carrying out the operation.

Despite ongoing tensions, Trump indicated that he would continue engaging diplomatically with Tehran’s current leadership. “They’re going to fold,” Trump said when asked about Iran’s hardliners. “I will deal with them until they make a deal.”

He also reiterated concerns about Iran obtaining nuclear weapons capability, stating, “Iranians are crazy people, they would use it within an hour of having it.”

The president further suggested the US could resume 'Project Freedom', the maritime security initiative in the Strait of Hormuz, although he said any renewed operation would be “much more severe.”

Trump says ceasefire is 'on massive life support'

Trump also described the current ceasefire with Iran as extremely fragile following Tehran’s latest response to US proposals. “It’s unbelievably weak,” Trump said. “I would call it the weakest right now after reading that piece of garbage they sent us.”

The president said he stopped reading Iran’s latest submission because he considered it inadequate. “I didn’t even finish reading it,” Trump said. “I said, I’m not going to waste my time reading it.”

He repeatedly compared the ceasefire to a critical medical condition, saying it was “on life support” and later describing it as being on “massive life support, with a doctor walks in and says, sir, your loved one has approximately a 1% chance of living.”

Trump also maintained that US military strikes had caused extensive damage to Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.

Referring to the enriched uranium as “nuclear dust,” he said the facilities had been hit so hard that removing the material would require specialized capabilities. “We already, in theory, have a complete victory from a military standpoint.”