The president Donald Trump declared this Thursday that Iran has agreed not to develop nuclear weapons and that it will hand over the radioactive material — enriched uranium — that was buried underground following the U.S. attacks with B-2 Spirit bombers.
"The most important thing is that Iran does not have a nuclear weapon, and they have agreed to that. Iran has agreed to that, and they have powerfully agreed to that," Trump stated to reporters.
The leader added that Tehran also committed to returning the material he referred to as "nuclear dust":
They have agreed to return the nuclear dust that is very deep underground due to the attack we carried out with the B-2 bombers," noted.
Trump expressed optimism about the direction of the negotiations: "We have a lot of agreement with Iran, and I believe something very positive is going to happen."
The statements come just days after the failure of the peace talks held in Islamabad from April 10 to 12, where the U.S. delegation —led by Vice President JD Vance, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner— was unable to reach an agreement after 21 hours of negotiations.
In that round, Washington demanded the complete dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program and a 20-year moratorium, while Iran only offered a five-year pause and claimed 270 billion dollars in war damage compensation.
After the collapse of the talks, Trump ordered a total naval blockade against Iranian ports that took effect on April 13. In the first 48 hours, nine merchant vessels were ordered to turn back, and at least eight oil tankers complied without the need for boarding.
Vance had then warned: "We have not seen a fundamental commitment from Iran not to develop nuclear weapons in the long term; that is worse news for them than for us."
The material that Trump refers to as "nuclear dust" is enriched uranium that was buried after the Midnight Hammer Operation, carried out on June 22, 2025, when seven B-2 Spirit bombers attacked the underground facility at Fordow—located 90 meters deep—with 30,000-pound bunker-busting bombs, and at that moment the president declared that Fordow had vanished.
Following that operation, the joint offensive between the United States and Israel, known as Operation Epic Fury, which began on February 28, 2026, destroyed nuclear facilities in Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow, and resulted in the death of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on March 1.
The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed in March 2026 that Iran possessed 5,500 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, an amount sufficient to manufacture nine nuclear bombs.
However, Trump's claims on Thursday currently lack official confirmation from Iran and contrast with Tehran's position documented just 48 hours earlier, when Iranian sources rejected the complete handover of their highly enriched uranium, although they showed greater flexibility regarding the level of enrichment.
Trump also suggested that there could be a signing of an agreement in Islamabad and that the war is "very close to ending," while the United States announced the deployment of 10,000 additional troops to the Middle East.
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