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President Donald Trump has indicated that the United States is on the verge of reaching a new nuclear agreement with Iran after warning that time was running out for a diplomatic solution yesterday.
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 makes military strikes significantly more difficult. While speaking in Saudi Arabia yesterday, President Trump indicated that the US is nearing a breakthrough deal with Iran to avoid conflict over its nuclear ambitions, but warned, “We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran,” suggesting that if diplomacy fails, military action remains on the table.
What’s going on now: In a notable development, President Trump has now said that the United States is “very close” to reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran, framing the talks as “very serious negotiations for long-term peace.” Speaking during a business roundtable in Doha, he stated, “Iran has sort of agreed to the terms: They’re not going to make, I call it, in a friendly way, nuclear dust. We’re not going to be making any nuclear dust in Iran.” Trump added, “There are two steps to doing this. There is a very, very nice step and there is the violent step, but I don’t want to do it the second way. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. That’s the only thing. It’s very simple. It’s not like I have to give you 30 pages worth of details.”
US officials have echoed a cautiously optimistic tone. A senior Trump administration official told CNN that the latest round of talks in Oman lasted over three hours and were “encouraging,” with an agreement to continue working through the technical elements of a potential deal. Envoy Steve Witkoff also described the discussions as “very serious,” though he previously suggested in interviews that uranium enrichment in Iran remains a “red line” for the US.
On the Iranian side, a senior adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ali Shamkhani, told NBC News that Iran is prepared to take significant steps if sanctions are lifted. Shamkhani said Iran is open to removing its enriched uranium, limiting its program to civilian-grade levels, and allowing inspectors to oversee compliance.
Despite this, key sticking points remain. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated that Iran’s right to enrich uranium is non-negotiable, calling it a fundamental principle that reflects the will of the Iranian people. Iran is also demanding “watertight guarantees” that the US will not abandon the deal again in the future.
