US President Donald Trump has warned that any Iranian who tries to access Iran’s highly enriched uranium will be targeted and that the material is under constant surveillance by the US military.
In an interview with the TV program ‘Full Measure’ broadcast on the 2nd, President Trump appeared to underestimate the significance of the presence of uranium in Iran, which is believed to be buried under the remains of nuclear facilities.
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“We’ll get it whenever we want it,” Trump said. “We’re monitoring it.”
“I did this thing called Space Force, and they’re watching. If someone comes in, we can give them their name, address, and badge number. If someone comes near that place, we’ll know and we’ll blow it up.”
Iran’s highly enriched uranium is one of the main stumbling blocks between the United States and Tehran in cease-fire talks to end the 10-week U.S.-Israel war with Iran.
The United States wants Iran to move uranium out of the country and completely halt its nuclear program, but Iran has emphasized that it will not give up its rights to its domestic enrichment program.
Several international media reports say uranium remains beneath the nuclear facility the United States bombed in June 2025, but Iran has not confirmed the location of the nuclear material.
Last month, President Trump announced that Iran had agreed to allow the United States to recover uranium and bring it to the United States, a claim Tehran quickly dismissed.
In an interview with Reuters on April 17, President Trump said the United States would work with Iran at a leisurely pace to go down and begin drilling with large machines to retrieve the uranium stockpile from the site.
“We will bring it back to the United States,” he added.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bagei denied Trump’s claims. “Enriched uranium is as sacred as Iranian soil and will not be moved anywhere under any circumstances,” he said.
Iran is believed to have more than 400 kg (882 lb) of enriched uranium of 60% purity.
Uranium enrichment is a complex process of separating and collecting isotopes of the most radioactive element to produce nuclear fuel.
When enriched to about 90% purity, uranium can be used to make nuclear weapons.
In 2015, Iran agreed to a multilateral deal to scale back its nuclear program and limit uranium enrichment to 3.67% under strict international supervision in exchange for the lifting of sanctions on the Iranian economy.
President Trump tore up the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), and began reimposing sanctions on Iran.
In response, Tehran, which denies pursuing nuclear weapons, began advancing its enrichment program well beyond the limits set by the JCPOA.
President Trump has insisted that the goal of the ongoing conflict with Iran is to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Asked about the rise in oil prices caused by the war, President Trump said, “We can’t let Iran get nuclear weapons because they are crazy.”
Supply problems related to Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz have pushed the average price of a gallon (3.8 liters) of gas or gasoline in the U.S. to more than $4.50, sparking inflation. Before the war it was less than $3.
Skirmishes broke out in the Gulf last week as the United States continued its siege of the Iranian port amid Tehran’s blockade of Hormuz, despite a ceasefire that took effect last month.
Iranian state media reported that Iran had conveyed to Pakistan its response to the latest offer to end the war by the United States, which is mediating the talks.
But President Trump repeated his claim that Iran was “lost” and said the war was not over.
“They were defeated, but that doesn’t mean they are done,” the US president said. “Give us two more weeks and we can achieve every single goal. There are certain goals we wanted to achieve and we’ve probably achieved 70% of them, but there are other goals we can achieve as well.”
