ByREUTERS, JERUSALEM POST STAFF

JUNE 5, 2026 05:29

Updated: JUNE 5, 2026 09:08

US President Donald Trump stated on Thursday that Washington could obtain enriched uranium from Iran without needing any formal agreement.

"We could get it right now. I do not think they could stop us if we wanted, but there is no reason to. It is entombed," he told reporters in the Oval Office.

Trump also indicated that he had no interest in meeting Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.

Yet he noted that if Washington and Tehran reached an accord, the leaders might convene, adding, "If it happened ... I'd be respectful."

On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal, citing several US officials, reported that Trump informed aides he would only end the ceasefire with Iran if Tehran killed American troops.

Recent strikes by Tehran targeting US bases in the Middle East have reportedly increased pressure on the president and raised questions about whether the ceasefire can hold.

However, Trump's reluctance to expand US defensive strikes into a full-scale war suggests he may tolerate Iran's attacks to prevent escalation, according to WSJ.

Military operation to remove Iran's uranium would take weeks, 'not like Venezuela,' Trump tells reporters

According to the president, a military operation to forcibly remove Iran's enriched uranium supplies would require at least two weeks.

"Getting there [Iran] is not like Venezuela. You have to be there for two weeks. You need a lot of equipment," Trump said.

"There was a time at the beginning [of the war] when we thought about doing it," he added.

He also noted that the uranium is buried and under heavy US surveillance.

"It is being photographed from every angle. We can get it out now - if anyone gets close to it, we will know what to do," the president said.

Trump says he thinks progress is being made on Lebanon

On the matter of Lebanon, Trump told reporters that he believed progress was being made between Israel and Lebanon and that Lebanon deserved to have peace.

Trump told reporters in the Oval Office that he had spoken to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and "I actually spoke to Hezbollah about it."

He continued: "And I think progress is made. It has been going on for a long time, you know," he said.

Trump's comments follow a Wednesday US State Department statement that Israel and Lebanon had agreed on the implementation of a ceasefire as a result of the US-led negotiations.

The ceasefire, the statement read, was conditional on a complete halt to Hezbollah fire, and the evacuation of all its operatives from the area south of the Litani.

It was further stated that the two sides had agreed to establish "pilot zones" in which the Lebanese army would have exclusive control over the area, with no presence of any non-state actor.

These steps, the State Department announced, would "enable progress towards a comprehensive peace and security agreement."

Hezbollah rejects the ceasefire

On Thursday, however, Hezbollah rejected the plan agreed upon by Israel and Lebanon.

Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said the negotiations were shameless, rejecting the Washington declaration as "a roadmap for the annihilation of a section of the Lebanese people and the enslavement of the rest."

"As long as the occupation exists, the resistance will continue," he said in a written statement.

Idan Kweller, Shir Perets, Corinne Baum, and Tzvi Jasper contributed to this report.