Witkoff to hold Iran talks offering sanctions relief for uranium halt - NBC News
Photo: Iran still has enough capacity to revive its nuclear program (Getty Images)
Trump's Special Envoy Steve Witkoff plans to hold negotiations with Iran soon. He intends to offer Tehran a new nuclear deal. The US demands that Iran stop enriching uranium. In exchange, Washington will offer significant sanctions relief, NBC News informs.
It is noted that Iran may still have some enriched uranium. Iranian forces reportedly managed to remove this uranium from nuclear facilities before the US bombings.
Iran may also still possess high-tech equipment, undiscovered tunnels, and bunkers. All these existing resources could theoretically allow Tehran to attempt to build a nuclear bomb.
However, beyond equipment, uranium stockpiles, and specialists, there is another problem. The main challenge will be hiding this activity from Israel. Israel feels at home both in Iranian airspace and behind Iranian lines. The bomb would have to be created in strict secrecy. Otherwise, it would be another failure.
"Israel has demonstrated repeatedly that it can evade Iran's security, uncover its clandestine nuclear activities... The Israeli air force has effectively wiped out Iran's air defenses. For the moment, Iran cannot protect any target on its territory — especially suspected nuclear sites — from a US or Israeli bombing raid," NBC News explained.
Political decision
If Iran decides to develop nuclear weapons despite everything, it will primarily be a political decision. Officially, the Ayatollah regime abandoned its military nuclear program in 2003. Since then, Tehran has developed what it calls a "civilian nuclear program" and rejected any accusations that it has military intent.
The paradox is that it is precisely after attacks by Israel and the US that Iran might consider that it really needs nuclear weapons. The nuclear bomb would shift from being just a powerful weapon to a weapon necessary for the country’s survival.
"Iran has every reason now, based on what’s just happened, to say we've got to have a bomb, and we’ll be treated differently if we do," Marvin Weinbaum, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute think tank and a professor at the University of Illinois.
Destruction of Iran's nuclear facilities
According to the Pentagon, on June 22, missile and bomb strikes by US air and naval forces completely destroyed Iran's nuclear program. However, European intelligence believes Iran managed to remove enriched uranium.
Despite Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi's statement about "extensive and serious damage" to Iran’s nuclear sites, it is assumed the situation is not as bad as Tehran wants to show. For example, Iran will not allow UN inspectors to visit nuclear sites to assess their condition. Cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is being phased out. Meanwhile, construction workers were spotted at the Fordow nuclear facility repairing the building.
After all these developments, US President Donald Trump did not rule out imposing tougher conditions on Iran in nuclear negotiations. These will likely include demands that Iran hand over all enriched uranium stocks to the United States.
