Trump says he does not need deal with Iran to get enriched uranium

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday evening that there was no reason to remove enriched uranium from Iran. 

“It is entombed,” Trump said, adding that he did not favour the idea of the US military carrying out such an operation. 

Trump also said that he did not want to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, according to Reuters. 

But he added that if Washington and Tehran reached a deal, it was possible that the two would meet and added: “If it happened … I’d be respectful”. 

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said: “We thought about it, and I didn’t want to be in a position where we had to go in there. “It’s not like it’s not like Venezuela, like you go in, you’re there for a matter of minutes and you’re out and everybody’s waving goodbye,” as the shipment takes off.” 

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Trump added: “I didn’t want to be like Jimmy Carter,” referring to the hostage crisis that followed Iran’s Islamic Revolution. 

He said that extracting the uranium would have required US forces to remain in Iran for one or two weeks, use massive equipment, and transport the material by air, while “you’re in a war zone.” 

“At first, we thought we could do it because they wouldn’t know about it, at least not immediately. But eventually they would have found out because the operation would have required a massive logistical effort over one or two weeks. We would have succeeded, but I said I didn’t like the idea,” Trump said. 

The president also outlined the risks involved, saying: “Suddenly, the Iranians would have pinpointed your location. They still have missiles left, meaning they could have targeted you and kept firing until one got through. I didn’t like that. We can still get the uranium, and I don’t think they can stop us if we wanted to, but there is no reason to do it.” 

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