Trump claims Iran has abandoned its nuclear weapons program

On Oct. 3, Donald Trump told reporters that Iran has virtually abandoned its nuclear weapons ambitions, attributing the change to crippling financial exhaustion and recent regional defeats that have eroded Tehran’s leverage. He said the Iranian government lacks both the means and the intent to produce a bomb and is now eager to negotiate a fresh agreement. Trump reiterated that a nuclear weapon for Iran would remain intolerable, noting that earlier maximum-pressure sanctions and economic isolation have drained its revenues, with further regional conflicts compounding the strain.

The remarks arrive as the International Atomic Energy Agency reported earlier that year Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile reached 60 percent purity, short of the 90 percent needed for weapons-grade material. Iran maintains that its nuclear program is strictly civilian, focused on energy and medical research. The comments come amid ongoing international monitoring of Tehran’s atomic activities following the United States’ 2018 withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear accord.