President Trump on Tuesday rejected reports that said the US has proposed to Iran to freeze uranium enrichment for 20 years, suggesting that he wants a permanent end to Iran’s nuclear enrichment program.
The president made the comments to the New York Post and again conflated the idea of any uranium enrichment with the pursuit of nuclear weapons, even though Tehran has been willing to cap uranium enrichment at very low levels far below the 90% enrichment needed for a weapon.
“I’ve been saying they can’t have nuclear weapons, so I don’t like the 20 years,” the president said. When asked whether a 20-year moratorium could work as a deal, since it could allow Iran to sell it as a win, Trump said, “I don’t want them to feel like they have a win.”
Before the war, Iran was willing to suspend uranium enrichment for three to five years since its program was already effectively frozen by the June 2025 US airstrikes on its nuclear facilities. The New York Times reported that Iran responded to the US proposal for a 20-year suspension by again offering a five-year pause.
Iran is not expected to capitulate to the US demand to never enrich uranium, which Joe Kent, a former senior Trump administration official who resigned over opposition to the Iran war, has described as a “poison pill” meant to serve Israel’s interest in the US continuing the war.
“The Israelis push for zero uranium enrichment because they know it’s a poison pill for Iran & will result in the war continuing,” Kent, who stepped down from his role as the head of the National Counterterrorism Center, said in a post on X on Monday.
Trump also suggested in his comments to the Post that another round of talks between the US and Iran could take place in Pakistan in “two days,” though the status of the negotiations is unclear. The US military is currently enforcing its own blockade on the Strait of Hormuz and has said that it will block ships that are heading to or departing from Iranian ports.
