Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
The prospect of sanctions relief for Iran remains firmly off the table. US President Donald Trump said his administration will not unfreeze Iranian assets or lift economic penalties until a final agreement is reached. He also made clear that Lebanon is not a requirement for any short-term deal with Tehran.
In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” Trump said any easing of economic pressure would come only after Tehran agrees to a deal and follows through on its commitments.
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“Comes after,” Trump said when asked whether sanctions relief or access to frozen assets could come before an agreement. “Yeah. If they behave, if they do a good job, we start talking. Yeah.”
The US and Israeli forces began strikes on Iran on February 28. The Trump administration has been trying to negotiate a potential peace deal for weeks. The diplomatic efforts continue to secure a settlement amid heightened tensions across the Middle East.
Trump also clarified that he is not insisting that Lebanon be included in any short-term agreement with Tehran.
“I think they’d like to see it, but I’m not demanding,” he said in the interview recorded on Friday.
TRUMP SAYS US WILL WORK WITH IRAN TO DESTROY URANIUM
The US President demanded any future agreement must go beyond preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons. He said negotiators had largely agreed on restrictions related to nuclear weapons development but that he pushed for overall wording.
“We have a couple of points. They don’t even seem like big points,” he said.
He added that he wanted the agreement to ensure Iran could not “develop or purchase, acquire or buy” nuclear weapons or related capabilities. Trump said Iranian negotiators initially resisted the proposal but later softened their position.
Trump indicated that the American military remains prepared to use force if diplomacy fails. He said Washington would work alongside Iran to remove and destroy highly enriched uranium if an agreement is reached. However, he warned that the US would act differently if talks collapse.
“If we make a deal that now we’re friendly, we’ll all go together. It’ll be our equipment. We’ll take it out and destroy it, whether it’s on-site or whether we take it off-site,” Trump said.
“And we will go with them, or without them. But we won’t have people shooting at us, OK?”
“Now, if we don’t make a deal, then we’re going to take them out militarily very harshly,” he added.
IRAN RULES OUT URANIUM TRANSFER
Iran had been repeatedly denying Trump’s claims that an agreement to hand over the material had been reached.
“Iran’s enriched uranium is not going to be transferred anywhere. Transfer of Iran’s enriched uranium to the US has never been raised in negotiations,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei had said last month.
Before US strikes in June 2025, the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, estimated that Iran had about 440 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60 per cent, far above the level allowed under the 2015 nuclear deal. Since the US and Israeli attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the whereabouts of that stockpile have remained unclear. Tehran has not allowed IAEA inspectors to return to the damaged sites, leaving questions about the material’s status unanswered.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
