Only US and China can retrieve enriched uranium from Iran's 'obliterated' nuclear sites, Trump says
President Donald Trump said only the U.S. and China can retrieve enriched uranium from Iran’s buried nuclear sites after they were 'obliterated' by strikes last year. Trump added he would be willing to meet with Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei if ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran produce a deal.
Only US, China can retrieve enriched uranium from Iran's 'obliterated' nuclear sites, says Trump
President Trump said Thursday that only the U.S. and China can retrieve enriched uranium from Iran’s buried nuclear sites, adding that the facilities were so badly damaged by strikes that recovering anything would be difficult.
“We attacked their nuclear sites and they were obliterated,” he told reporters in the Oval Office.
“It turned out that, you know, CNN was wrong. They said, ‘Well, maybe they weren’t hit that hard.’ They were hit so hard, nobody knows if you could even get it out,” he added.
Trump went on to argue that only the U.S. and China have the equipment capable of reaching it.
“But the only ones that have the capability of getting it out are us and China,” Trump said.
“We’re the only ones with that kind of equipment that’s powerful enough to go down that deep into a mountain, but that mountain crushed it.”
“That mountain literally collapsed on top of it.”
Referring to assessments by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, he said the agency agreed.
“And now the atomic energy, as you know, has backed us up on that. They think it’s a very, very hard thing to get to, but we’ll get it anyway. But we’re the only ones — and China, I believe, does, too — that have the capability,” he said.
Yesterday's Fox News Digital live blog offers additional coverage of the conflict with Iran.
Iran war ‘will end only when it ends in Lebanon as well,’ foreign minister says
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that "this war will end only when it ends in Lebanon as well," according to Reuters.
"The end of the war on Lebanon must be accompanied by the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territories they have occupied," Araghchi was quoted as saying to Lebanese TV station Al Mayadeen.
The remarks come after Hezbollah rejected a U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal between Lebanon and Israel.
"Today we again warn this sinister regime to leave Lebanon. They should know that Lebanon will be an inseparable part of any agreement and any ceasefire,” Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran's supreme leader, also told the Mehr news agency, according to Reuters.
The Israel Defense Forces have been continuing military activity against Hezbollah in recent weeks in response to attacks from the Iran-backed terrorist group.
Rezaei reportedly added that Hezbollah "made great sacrifices in the recent war and it is our ally,” and, “therefore, we support Hezbollah and remain firmly committed to our obligations toward it."
Republicans face ticking midterm clock as Iran fallout keeps pressure on gas prices
As the Trump administration weighs diplomacy and military pressure against Iran, a political clock is ticking at home.
Even if the Strait of Hormuz — the global oil choke point largely shuttered since the conflict with Iran due to Iranian attacks — reopened immediately, it could take months for oil flows to return due to logistical bottlenecks involving trapped tankers, swollen inventories and damaged oil infrastructure, according to Kpler oil analyst Matt Smith, pushing normalization of global energy markets closer to the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
"It's then going to take until the fourth quarter of the year for things to return to normal," Smith said.
The question facing Republicans is whether the economic consequences of the conflict will outlast the conflict itself. While the White House continues to pursue a diplomatic resolution with Iran, strategists and energy analysts say disruptions to global energy markets could linger long after any agreement is reached, leaving voters with months of elevated costs heading into the midterms.
The economic effects are already visible.
The national average price of regular gasoline stood at $4.241 per gallon Thursday, according to AAA, up from $3.144 a year earlier — an increase of nearly 35%.
Moody's Analytics estimates the conflict has cost American households roughly $100 billion throughout the past three months, or about $750 per household, through higher fuel, transportation and related costs.
Israel’s military eliminates Hezbollah explosives expert
The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that it killed Abed Harb, the commander of Hezbollah’s engineering unit.
“Harb’s unit was responsible for assembling explosives intended to harm IDF soldiers in southern Lebanon,” the IDF said on X.
It described Harb as a senior commander within the Iran-backed terrorist group in Lebanon, who was “responsible for numerous attacks against IDF soldiers” dating back to 2006.
“Additionally, a Hezbollah rocket launcher was dismantled,” the IDF also said Friday.
Trump: I’d meet Khamenei ‘respectfully,’ though I'm ‘not his favorite person’
President Donald Trump said Thursday that he would be willing to meet with Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei if ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran produce a deal, saying he would approach any meeting with respect despite any differences.
Trump’s remarks came amid ongoing negotiations with Tehran, where Khamenei appears to have become more involved.
Asked by Fox News' senior White House Correspondent Peter Doocy about meeting the Iranian leader in the United States, Trump said, "I'd be honored to meet him."
“I'd like to see if we make a deal. But if we make a deal, it's possible that I would meet him. I'd be okay with that,” he added before stating that if they did meet, he would be:
“Respectful.”
“Well, I would say I'm not his favorite person,” Trump added.
“But with that being said, he's probably a professional in some circles,” Trump said.
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