The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump backed away Tuesday from comments by its top Middle East envoy that the U.S. will focus on restricting Iran’s uranium enrichment and missile capability rather than dismantling its entire nuclear program.
"This is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program, and then ultimately verification on weaponization,” the envoy, Steve Witkoff, told Fox News Monday, adding that Iran must not have the ability to enrich uranium to a purity beyond 3.67%. "Verification will be the key point which undergirds this agreement. We are going to have very tight verification.”
Witkoff’s suggestion that the U.S. was ready to accept some enrichment would mark a significant diplomatic step. It goes against U.S. and Israeli hard-liners — who want to dismantle Iran’s entire nuclear program — while reducing the urgency to restore United Nations Security Council sanctions, which demand that Iran suspend all enrichment-related activities.
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