Iran denies shipping enriched uranium to US

Iranian deputy foreign minister categorically rules out transfer of any enriched nuclear material from the Islamic Republic to the United States following controversial remarks made on the issue by President Donald Trump.

“I can tell you that no enriched material is going to be shipped to United States,” Saeed Khatibzadeh told the Associated Press in an interview on Saturday.

“This is [a] non-starter and I can assure you that, while we are ready to address any concerns that we do have, we’re not going to accept things that are nonstarters,” he added.

Earlier, Trump had claimed that the US would go into Iran and “get all the nuclear dust,” with some interpreting the remarks to be referring to Iran’s highly-enriched uranium.

Saeed Khatibzadeh also noted that, following the previous round of negotiations that was held between the two sides in the Pakistani capital Islamabad earlier this month, the United States’ “maximalist” demands from Iran have been preventing taking place of another round of talks.

“We are still not there yet to move on to an actual meeting because there are issues that the Americans have not yet abandoned their maximalist position,” he stated.

The Islamic Republic, the official added, was seeking finalization of a “framework agreement” before heading into to another round of negotiations.

On April 7 and prior to the Islamabad negotiations, Trump announced a two-weak lull in unprovoked aggression targeting Iran. Making the announcement, Trump said a 10-point ceasefire proposal forwarded by Iran was a “workable basis on which to negotiate and the main framework” for talks with the Islamic Republic.