‘More PR than anything else’: Trump downplays push to seize Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile

US President Donald Trump has downplayed the urgency of securing Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, suggesting the issue may be driven more by political optics than immediate security concerns, even as it remains a major sticking point in ceasefire negotiations between Washington and Tehran.

Speaking to Fox News host Sean Hannity during his visit to China, Trump said he would still prefer the uranium to be under American control but questioned how critical the matter truly was.

“I just feel better if I got it, actually, but it’s — I think, it’s more for public relations than it is for anything else,” Trump said, according to AFP.

The remarks come as the United States and Iran continue delicate negotiations aimed at stabilising a ceasefire following the 10-week US-Israel conflict with Iran that began after coordinated strikes ordered by Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 28.

Although active fighting has eased, talks remain fragile, with Iran’s nuclear programme emerging as the central unresolved issue.

Netanyahu recently warned that the conflict was “not over,” insisting Iran’s sensitive nuclear material “has to be taken out” of the country. Israeli officials have repeatedly argued that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium represents a long-term security threat and that any future agreement must prevent Tehran from rebuilding nuclear weapons capability.

According to officials familiar with the negotiations, Washington wants Iran to transfer its existing uranium stockpile out of the country and dismantle its nuclear programme entirely as part of a broader settlement. US officials say removing the material is essential to stop Iran from rapidly advancing toward a nuclear weapon.

Tehran, however, has firmly rejected those demands. Iranian leaders maintain that preserving a domestic uranium enrichment programme is a matter of sovereignty and scientific progress.

Diplomats involved in the talks say the dispute over uranium enrichment remains one of the toughest obstacles in ceasefire negotiations, with both sides sharply divided over whether Iran should retain any enrichment capability on its territory, even for civilian purposes.