Trump doubles down on opposing uranium enrichment, warns of potential strike on Iran

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday doubled down on his opposition to Iranian uranium enrichment, and appeared to warn Tehran of potential strikes on its nuclear facilities if it rejected Washington's proposed nuclear deal.

“They won’t be enriching. If they enrich, then we’re going to have to do it the other way,” Trump told media representatives.

This is the second time in a week that the president has articulated his opposition to Iranian uranium enrichment. 

“The AUTOPEN should have stopped Iran a long time ago from ‘enriching.’ Under our potential Agreement — WE WILL NOT ALLOW ANY ENRICHMENT OF URANIUM!” Trump wrote on the social media platform Truth Social. 

However, Trump’s position is reportedly clashing with a U.S. proposal that would permit Tehran to enrich uranium at low levels for civilian purposes. Trump’s senior envoy, Steve Witkoff, has contributed to the confusion by issuing contradictory statements on continued Iranian enrichment. 

Trump has stressed on multiple occasions that he will not permit the Iranian ayatollah regime to acquire nuclear weapons. The president has also signaled that he prefers a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear threat. Trump has at the same time not ruled out potential military strikes on Iran if the Tehran regime refuses to settle the dispute through diplomatic means. 

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Wednesday signaled that Tehran has rejected Washington’s nuclear deal proposal. 

“The U.S. nuclear proposal contradicts our nation’s belief in self-reliance and the principle of ‘We Can,’” Khamenei stated. 

“The rude and arrogant leaders of America repeatedly demand that we should not have a nuclear program,” he continued. “Who are you to decide whether Iran should have enrichment?”

The Iranian regime has so far refused to end its uranium enrichment. Tehran officially claims it does not seek nuclear weapons and argues that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful civilian purposes. However, it nevertheless insists on enriching uranium to levels close to weapons-grade, enrichment not required for a purely civilian program.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, which refers to the United States as the “Great Satan,” openly calls for the destruction of the State of Israel, which it calls the “Little Satan.” Since Iran already has ballistic missiles that can reach Israel, Jerusalem views nuclear weapons in the hands of the ayatollah regime as an existential threat to the Jewish state. 

There is, therefore, a wide consensus in Israel that Iran’s uranium enrichment must end, and Tehran’s nuclear program must be dismantled either through diplomacy or military force. 

The New York Times claimed in late May that Israel was preparing a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities amid ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran. However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office dismissed the New York Times report as “fake news.”

Earlier this week, Israel reportedly reassured the Trump administration that it will not target Iran’s nuclear facilities until Trump declares the talks with Iran a failure. Israeli officials are concerned that Iran is deliberately trying to drag out talks to gain time for completing its development of nuclear weapons. However, Trump has reportedly stressed that he will not permit the talks with Tehran to continue indefinitely. 

Fearing potential U.S. or Israeli military strikes, Tehran is reportedly in the process of trying to rebuild its aerial defense systems that were severely damaged during a large-scale Israeli aerial strike in October 2024.