HAMILTON, March 23 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- President Donald Trump said Monday that if the US reaches a deal with Iran, the US will take the country’s enriched uranium, Anadolu Ajansi reported.
Asked by reporters how the US would obtain Iran’s enriched uranium, a years-long bone of contention between the two, he said: "It's very easy."
"If we have a deal with them, we're going down, and we'll take it ourselves," he added.
Saying that the latest round of talks between Washington and Tehran happened late Sunday — talks denied by Iran — Trump told reporters before leaving for a trip to the southern US: "They want very much to make a deal. We'd like to make a deal too."
"We're going to get together today, probably by phone," he said.
Claiming that it is "very hard" for Iranian officials to get out of the country, Trump also said US and Iranian officials will "at some point, very, very soon meet" in person.
On his announcement earlier that day of a five-day pause in attacks on Iranian energy facilities, the US president said: "We'll see how that goes, and if it goes well, we're going to end up with settling this. Otherwise, we just keep bombing our little hearts out."
Asked about Israel's response to reported talks with Iran, Trump said: "I think they'll be very happy."
He argued that a deal with Iran would bring "long-term peace" for Israel and the wider region, adding that he "can't guarantee" such an outcome.
Trump also claimed that the Iranian side contacted US officials first, saying: "It's got to be a good deal, and there's got to be no more wars, no more nuclear weapons."
"We have had very, very strong talks. We'll see where they lead," he noted, announcing that Washington and Tehran had agreed on "major points."
He said they had agreed on 15 points, with nuclear weapons being "number one, two and three" on the list.
"They will never have a nuclear weapon. They've agreed to that," he said.
Arguing that he wants to see "peace in the Middle East," Trump also said the US wants "the nuclear dust."
"And I think we're going to get that," he added.
When asked about the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, he claimed it would be "opened very soon" if the deal "works."
He also claimed that the strait would be "jointly controlled" by the US and Iran.
Emphasising that there would be a "very serious form of regime change" in Iran, Trump said the change had already begun, claiming that "everybody's been killed" from the previous leadership.
"They're really starting off. There's automatically a regime change, but we're dealing with some people that I find to be very reasonable, very solid," he said.
Pointing to US actions in Venezuela, Trump said: "Look at Venezuela, how well that's working."
"We are doing so well in Venezuela with oil, and with the relationship between the president-elect and us, maybe we find somebody like that in Iran," he said.
-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU
