'I didn’t feel like being like Jimmy Carter'

‘It’s entombed’: Trump says US can retrieve Iran’s uranium without a deal, but has ‘no reason to’

President says he mulled sending troops to seize near-weapons-grade stockpile at war’s start, but declined to do so given the risks: ‘I don’t want to do it if we’re in conflict’

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that American forces could remove Iran’s enriched uranium even without Washington making a deal with the Islamic Republic, but that “there’s no reason to,” because, he said, the regime can’t access it anyway.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump revealed that he had thought about sending US troops to retrieve the buried stockpile at the very start of the war, but chose not to do so because of the risks and potential complications.

“I didn’t feel like being like Jimmy Carter,” he said, alluding to the former president’s failed effort to rescue 52 US Embassy staff held hostage by Iran in 1980.

Trump again claimed that a deal with Iran would ensure the removal or disposal of the uranium, something Iran has denied accepting. “As it stands right now, we will go in, in the not too distant future [to deal with the underground stockpile by agreement],” he said.

“We could get it right now. I don’t think they could stop us if we wanted, but there’s no reason to. It’s entombed,” the president said.

“It’s very safe down there,” he added. “We have cameras, every angle of those three [underground nuclear] sites are being watched at all times. If anybody went there, we’ll see exactly what’s happening and we’ll blow it up a little bit further….”

“[It’s ] very hard to get that material, but I still nevertheless want it,” he said, but added: “I don’t want to do it if we’re in conflict. I don’t want to put men in that kind of danger.”

Trump detailed, for the first time, a plan he said he did not approve that would have sent American troops into Iran to collect what he commonly calls the “nuclear dust.”

“I didn’t want to be in a position where you had…,” he said, then paused before resuming: “It’s not like Venezuela — like you go in, you’re there for a matter of minutes and you’re out. And everybody’s waving goodbye as you take off,” he elaborated.

“This is different. You have to be there for two weeks. You’d need massive equipment. You’d have to airlift the equipment.”

“There was a time at the very beginning when we thought about doing that, because they would have not been watching, but they would have found out,” he added.

Previously, Trump has insisted on the need to remove or destroy Iran’s stockpile of some 440 kilograms of 60 percent enriched uranium — a short step from weapons-grade.

Nuclear experts have also urged the US to require the removal of all uranium enriched by Iran to lower levels, to better block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapons arsenal.

Trump’s apparently shifting stance regarding the uranium stockpile followed his recent backing away from his previous demand for an end to all Iranian enrichment, saying on May 15 that he would accept a 20-year suspension of uranium enrichment.

Iran, which regularly vows to destroy Israel, denies it has ever sought nuclear weapons, but its enrichment has gone far beyond the levels required for a civilian program, and it has obstructed inspectors from accessing its facilities.

Trump also said Thursday that he was not looking to meet with Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, but said that he’d “be honored” to do so.

Trump said if Washington and Tehran reached a deal, it was possible that the two would meet and added, “If it happened… I’d be respectful.”

“In some circles, he has a very good reputation actually,” he said of Khamenei.

The president has been seeking a deal with Iran to permanently end the war, and has repeatedly claimed that an agreement is close at hand.

On Thursday, according to a report on Channel 12, the US sent a message to Pakistan, which is acting as a mediator, demanding a reply from Iran by the weekend and a signing ceremony in Geneva next week. It was unclear what the consequences would be if Iran failed to abide by those terms.

Publicly, Iran has so far refused to end enrichment, to give up uranium stockpiles, or to concede any other key war goals such as ending its support for terror proxies throughout the region. Trump has said the Strait of Hormuz would be opened under the deal he’s seeking, though Iran has indicated it intends to keep control of it.

Last week, it was reported that Washington and Tehran were converging on a memorandum of understanding, according to which the US would ease its naval blockade on Iranian ports in parallel with Tehran restoring full international shipping through the strait, during a 60-day ceasefire extension. Negotiations over Tehran’s nuclear program, and further US sanctions relief, would take place during the truce.

Israel launched its campaign against Iran, alongside the US, on February 28. The goals of the campaign were to degrade Iran’s military capabilities, distance threats posed by Iran — including its nuclear and ballistic missile programs — and “create the conditions” for the Iranian people to topple the regime, the Israel Defense Forces and other Israeli leaders have said.

Reuters contributed to this report.