Trump Declares US Can Unilaterally Seize Iran's Enriched Uranium, No Deal Required

This assertion is a significant escalation in rhetoric. It bypasses the diplomatic track entirely, framing the U.S. as possessing a unilateral military option that it is merely choosing not to exercise, for now.

A Tale of Two Talks: Trump's Optimism Meets Iran's Pessimism

The public assessments from Washington and Tehran could not be more contradictory.

• The White House View: Trump has consistently projected optimism. On Wednesday, he said talks are going "very well" and an interim deal "could happen over the weekend" . He has claimed Iran has "agreed not to possess nuclear weapons" and that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is directly involved in approving the negotiations, a claim that adds a layer of high-level personal diplomacy to his narrative .
• The Tehran View: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has offered a sobering counter-narrative. In remarks carried by Tasnim news agency on Wednesday, he said communication channels remain open but "no tangible progress" has been made in negotiations to end the war . Iran's Foreign Ministry went further on June 1, stating that discussions over the nuclear program itself "have not taken place" at the current stage of talks, with spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei insisting the priority is ending the war .

This fundamental disconnect suggests that while the U.S. is trying to shape a public perception of imminent success, the on-the-ground diplomatic reality is far more gridlocked. The gap between Trump's "over the weekend" prediction and Iran's denial of any nuclear-specific progress reveals a talks process that is either deeply fractured or where the two sides are not even discussing the same agenda.

The Oman-Mediated Framework and Continuing Hostilities

At the heart of this diplomatic confusion is a 60-day memorandum of understanding mediated by Oman. The proposed framework seeks to address two core, intertwined crises :

1. Reopening the Strait of Hormuz: A vital global shipping lane that Iran has blockaded or threatened, the closure of which has massive economic and security implications.
2. Handling Iran's Enriched Uranium: The ultimate disposition of the stockpile, which Washington insists must be surrendered and destroyed .

The diplomatic track is proceeding under the shadow of ongoing military action. On the weekend of May 30–31, the U.S. carried out what it called “self-defense” missile and drone strikes inside Iran . These were not isolated incidents but part of a pattern where Trump has sent back proposed changes to a deal text while strikes were ongoing, explicitly intertwining military pressure with the negotiation process . Fresh U.S. and Iranian strikes have continued to strain a fragile, extended ceasefire .

An Unprecedented Overture to the Supreme Leader

Adding another layer of complexity, Trump has expressed an unexpected openness to personally meeting with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei. On Thursday, he framed the possibility as contingent on a deal, saying, "I don't want to meet. But if I did meet, 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" .

This follows earlier comments to the New York Post, where he said he expects to meet Khamenei and that the two sides are "getting along quite well" [1, 40]. Trump has asserted that Khamenei is giving final approval in the talks, elevating the supreme leader’s perceived role in a way that both personalizes the negotiation and sets a dramatic stage for potential future engagement [7, 26].