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President Trump has warned that Iran must choose between embracing a peaceful future without its nuclear program or facing his renewed “massive maximum pressure” from the United States.
Some shit you should know before you read: If you’re unaware, Iran has continuously maintained that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes only, a claim Western intelligence agencies say is bullshit. For civilian purposes, a country would need to enrich uranium to around 3–5% purity for nuclear power generation, and up to 20% for medical and research applications. However, Iran is now enriching uranium to 60% purity, a level that has no credible civilian justification and leaves the country just a short technical step from weapons-grade 90% enrichment. Western intelligence agencies have suggested that it’s intentionally shortening its “breakout time” to a bomb, and there’s more concern due to Iran’s secret network of undisclosed or hardened enrichment sites, some deeply buried under mountains, which make military strikes significantly more difficult.
What’s going on now: Amid ongoing nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran, President Trump told attendees at the US-Saudi Investment Forum that Iran’s door for a diplomatic solution on its nuclear program would not stay open indefinitely. He said, “If Iran’s leadership rejects this olive branch and continues to attack their neighbors, then we will have no choice but to inflict massive maximum pressure.” He added Iran had two options, “continuing its chaos and terror, or embracing peace.”
Despite the warning, Trump said, “I want to make a deal with Iran. If I can make a deal with Iran, I’ll be very happy…. We really want them to be a successful country. We want them to be a wonderful, safe, great country, but they cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
This all comes as the State Department rolled out another round of targeted sanctions aimed at crippling Iran’s ability to finance its military and nuclear ambitions. The new sanctions focus on an international network involved in exporting millions of barrels of Iranian crude oil to China. According to the State Department, these revenues are being used to advance Iran’s ballistic missile development, nuclear proliferation efforts, and support for terrorist proxy groups across the Middle East.
