By Laurence Norman and Michael R. Gordon

President Trump said Wednesday that he hasn't decided whether Iran should be allowed to enrich uranium under a new nuclear deal, signaling that the White House might be flexible on a central issue in the talks.

Asked if Iran can have a civilian enrichment program if it didn't produce weapons-grade material that could be used in a bomb, Trump said: "We haven't made that decision yet."

Trump's comments in the Oval Office are the latest in a series of mixed messages the administration has sent about what nuclear work Iran would be allowed to do under a potential deal.

Earlier in the day, Vice President JD Vance said Iran couldn't have an enrichment program that could enable Tehran to develop a nuclear weapon.

"We don't care if people want nuclear power," he said at a conference in Washington. "But you can't have the kind of enrichment program that allows you to get to a nuclear weapon and that's where we draw the line."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has ruled out any Iranian uranium-enrichment program, telling an interviewer last month that Tehran would be required to "import enriched material" if it wanted to run nuclear reactors for power and other civilian purposes.

Enriching uranium is a critical part of a nuclear program and can be used to produce fuel for civilian power reactors or weapons-grade fissile material for a nuclear weapon.

A National Security Council spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment on Trump's statement on enrichment but pointed to remarks the president made in an interview with Hugh Hewitt that any agreement would require "total verification" and would need to be "strong."

Trump has repeatedly said that if the U.S. cannot reach a nuclear deal with Iran, he would consider military action to knock out Tehran's nuclear program. Vance said Wednesday the talks with Iran were on a good path.

"I will say so far so good. We have been very happy by how the Iranians have responded to some of the points that we've made," Vance said.

Talks between the U.S. and Iran could resume this weekend in Oman, according to a person involved in the discussions. Oman has so far mediated between the two sides.

Iran has long insisted that it has the right to enrich uranium and that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful. Retaining its enrichment program has been the central red line Tehran has set in talks with previous U.S. administrations. But U.S. officials say that could provide Tehran a potential pathway to produce nuclear material for a bomb.

A fundamental question for the White House is whether it should allow Iran to carry out a low level of enrichment that would be subject to rigorous monitoring as part of a compromise -- or if it should risk jeopardizing a deal by banning Iran from doing any uranium enrichment of its own.

U.S. intelligence agencies have told Congress that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hasn't given the go-ahead to build a nuclear device, though he is under pressure to do so.

On Wednesday, Ali Shamkhani, a senior aide to Khamenei, said on X that the U.S. and Iran were "determined to continue on the right path of talks."

"Sanction removal & recognition of Iran's right to industrial enrichment can guarantee a deal," he said.

From the start of the talks, the U.S. position on enrichment has wavered. In an interview with the Journal shortly before talks started, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said the U.S.'s starting position was that Iran should dismantle its nuclear program but made clear that the U.S. was open to compromise.

Later In April, Witkoff suggested in an interview with Fox News that Iran could continue to enrich under a deal up to 3.67%, far below the 90% weapons grade fissile material. The next day, Witkoff said the U.S. position remained that Iran must "stop and eliminate its nuclear enrichment."

Write to Laurence Norman at laurence.norman@wsj.com and Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 07, 2025 17:12 ET (21:12 GMT)

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