{"id":10906,"date":"2025-05-15T23:01:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T23:01:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/top-iranian-official-says-tehran-would-forego-highly-enriched-uranium-in-nuclear-deal-with-trump\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T23:01:38","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T23:01:38","slug":"top-iranian-official-says-tehran-would-forego-highly-enriched-uranium-in-nuclear-deal-with-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/top-iranian-official-says-tehran-would-forego-highly-enriched-uranium-in-nuclear-deal-with-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Iranian official says Tehran would forego highly enriched uranium in nuclear deal with Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Iran is ready to sign a nuclear deal with certain conditions with President Donald Trump in exchange for lifting economic sanctions, a top adviser to Iran\u2019s supreme leader told NBC News on Wednesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Ali Shamkhani, a top political, military and nuclear adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is one of the most senior Iranian officials to speak publicly about the ongoing discussions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He said Iran would commit to never making nuclear weapons, getting rid of its stockpiles of highly enriched uranium which can be weaponized, agree to enrich uranium only to the lower levels needed for civilian use, and allow international inspectors to supervise the process, in exchange for the immediate lifting of all economic sanctions on Iran.<\/p>\n

Asked if Iran would agree to sign an agreement today if those conditions were met, Shamkhani said, \u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

His comments appear to be the clearest public statement yet on Iran\u2019s expectations and willingness to reach a deal from the supreme leader\u2019s inner circle. Iran\u2019s supreme leader has the final say on all matters of national security.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still possible. If the Americans act as they say, for sure we can have better relations,\u201d\u00a0Shamkhani said, adding, \u201cit can lead to a better situation in the near future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Shamkhani sat down with NBC News just hours after Trump offered Iran \u201can olive branch\u201d that was combined with threats of crippling economic sanctions should Iran not accept an agreement to limit its nuclear program.<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s remarks were criticized by Iranian\u00a0President\u00a0Masoud Pezeshkian.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe thinks he can come here, chant slogans, and scare us. For us, martyrdom is far sweeter than dying in bed,\u201d he said Wednesday in comments broadcast live on state television, according to Reuters. \u201cYou came to frighten us? We will not bow to any bully.\u201d <\/p>\n

Shamkhani also expressed frustration at Trump\u2019s tone and continued threats.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe talks about the olive branch, which we have not seen. It\u2019s all barbed wire,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Trump has repeatedly said Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. \u00a0<\/p>\n

While Iran has always denied that it is seeking to do so, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.\u2019s nuclear watchdog, says that it has enriched enough uranium close to weapons-grade quality to make six nuclear bombs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The U.S. and Iran have been holding talks over Tehran\u2019s nuclear program for weeks, with Trump\u2019s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, calling the last round in Muscat, the capital of Oman, \u201cencouraging.\u201d <\/p>\n

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas\u00a0Araghchi, meanwhile, called the negotiations \u201cdifficult but useful.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEnrichment is an issue that Iran will not give up, and there is no room for compromise on it,\u201d he said. \u201cHowever, its dimensions, levels or amounts might change for a period to allow confidence-building.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

In Wednesday\u2019s interview, Shamkhani expressed concern that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, often known by the nickname Bibi, could try to derail the process through backchannel lobbying in Washington.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the Americans remove the Bibi effect, they can easily sign the deal,\u201d Shamkhani said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There are signs, however, that Trump may be distancing himself from Netanyahu. NBC News previously reported that, according to two U.S. officials, two Middle Eastern diplomats and two other people with knowledge of the tensions, the two leaders are increasingly at odds over a strategy for tackling challenges in the region, including Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While Netanyahu has supported military action against Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities, Trump has begun to see an opportunity to remove the threat of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon by making a deal with the government, the sources said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/picture><\/div>\n

Richard Engel<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Iran is ready to sign a nuclear deal with certain conditions with President Donald Trump in exchange for lifting economic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7282,"featured_media":10907,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1168],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10906","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7282"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usaontheweb.com\/clone1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}