White House Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is warning that Iran is about a week away from having enough enriched uranium to create at least one nuclear bomb.
Mr. Witkoff said Tehran has been enriching uranium at up to the 60% level, well beyond the capacity needed for civilian use as the regime has claimed.
The Islamic Republic has not enriched uranium at the 90% “weapons-grade” level, but it has amassed a substantial stockpile of 60% enriched uranium, he said. That’s about 90% of the work required to reach 90% purity, analysts say.
“That’s really dangerous, so we can’t have that,” Mr. Witkoff said Saturday on Fox News Channel’s “My View With Laura Trump.”
President Trump wants to know why Iranian leaders are continuing to dig in their heels over developing a nuclear arsenal, despite the growing U.S. military presence in the region.
“With the amount of sea power [and] naval power that we have over there, why haven’t they come to us and say, ‘We don’t want a weapon so here’s what we’re prepared to do?’” Mr. Witkoff said. “Yet it’s hard to get them to that place.”
The U.S. military in June launched airstrikes on Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities to destroy the regime’s atomic infrastructure and halt its progress toward a nuclear weapon.
The White House said the facilities were obliterated, but most experts say the strikes set Iran’s nuclear program back by one to two years by destroying specialized centrifuges and physical infrastructure.
Mr. Witkoff said he has spoken with Reza Pahlevi, the eldest son of the late exiled shah of Iran, at the direction of Mr. Trump.
“The president is interested in hearing everyone’s views. He has no pride of authorship … which I greatly respect, because he’s open to new ideas and a new ways of thinking,” the envoy said.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
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