Trump rejects any Iranian uranium enrichment, clashing with reported US nuclear proposal

U.S. President Donald Trump emphasized on Monday that the Islamic Republic of Iran would not be permitted to enrich any uranium under a potential nuclear deal. 

“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 in a post on his social media platform Truth Social. The expression “autopen” was a barely veiled criticism of former U.S. President Joe Biden who reportedly greenlighted the use of a mechanical device that replicated signatures during his presidency.

Trump has argued that such practice during the Biden administration undermined oversight, authority and decision-making. Trump has also accused the Biden administration of appeasing the Iranian regime and enabling it to finance terrorism including the Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, massacre of 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping of 251 people from Israel. 

Trump’s public rejection of any Iranian uranium enrichment reportedly contradicts a U.S. proposal for a nuclear agreement delivered to Iran on Saturday by Oman’s Foreign Minister, Sayyid Badr Albusaidi. According to Axios, citing two informed sources, the U.S. proposal would allow Iran to continue low-level, above-ground enrichment – up to three percent, which is sufficient to fuel a civilian nuclear reactor.

The Iranian regime officially denies that it seeks to develop nuclear weapons, a claim that is dismissed by Western and Israeli military experts. While claiming that it only seeks civilian nuclear energy, Tehran has at the same time insisted on enriching uranium close to military grade level, significantly above what is needed for a purely civilian nuclear facility. 

“President Trump has made it clear that Iran can never obtain a nuclear bomb,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt stated, without elaborating on the specifics of the submitted nuclear agreement proposal. 

Trump has signaled that diplomacy is his preferred solution, but he has not ruled out the use of military force in order to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. 

The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the Trump administration has warned the Iranian regime of “severe consequences” if it rejects the U.S. proposal. 

“If they don’t accept these terms, it’s not going to be a good day for the Iranians,” a senior unnamed U.S. official told the news outlet. 

However, despite U.S. warnings, a “senior diplomat” from Tehran told Reuters, on condition of anonymity, that “Iran is drafting a negative response to the U.S. proposal, which could be interpreted as a rejection of the U.S. offer.”

The Iranian official described the U.S. proposal as “completely one-sided.”

“In this proposal, the U.S. stance on enrichment on Iranian soil remains unchanged, and there is no clear explanation regarding the lifting of sanctions,” the Iranian official claimed without elaborating. 

Last month, Trump’s senior envoy Steve Witkoff contributed to the confusion by issuing contradictory statements on the nuclear talks. Witkoff initially indicated that Iran must limit but not necessarily halt uranium enrichment. 

“They cannot have centrifuges. They have to downblend all of their fuel that they have there and send it to a far-away place,” he said in an interview with the U.S. news outlet Breitbart.

However, Witkoff appeared to contradict his earlier position by later calling for the complete dismantlement of Iran’s enrichment facilities.