ISTANBUL: US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that US troops would need to carry out a mission to Iran to recover nuclear assets following an air strike that destroyed Tehran’s enrichment facilities, Anadolu Agency reported.
“Now we’re going to suffer the consequences, because we have to travel to Iran to get nuclear weapons,” Trump told reporters.
He is believed to be referring to about 1,000 pounds (453.6 kilograms) of enriched uranium reportedly trapped under the rubble of a site targeted in a US-Israeli strike last June.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed that the material was “under the rubble” with no immediate plans to retrieve it.
Trump claimed that Washington had destroyed Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. “We destroyed their nuclear potential. It was completely eliminated,” he said, explaining that Iran would need weeks to obtain the material and that the US “will not allow them to continue digging” because of ongoing military monitoring.
He also claimed that Tehran knew they “had no chance,” despite their public statements to the contrary.
“They told me that when I spoke to them, but on television they said the opposite,” he said.
“They don’t like playing games with us. They don’t like it at all,” Trump said.
— BERNAMA-ANADOLU
