US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said Iranian negotiators claimed earlier this year that Tehran possessed enough highly enriched uranium to build 11 nuclear bombs.
Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Witkoff recalled that during the first round of negotiations, Iranian officials stated “with no shame” that they controlled 460 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%.
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“They controlled 460 kilograms of 60% [enriched uranium] and that they’re aware that could make 11 nuclear bombs,” Witkoff said.
He added that the negotiators appeared “proud that they had evaded all sorts of oversight protocols to get to a place where they could deliver 11 nuclear bombs.”
Witkoff reiterated his claim that Iran’s stockpile could be turned into weapons-grade material “within a week or ten days,” though doing so would require facilities that Washington says were destroyed in previous US strikes.
He said Iranian negotiators also insisted they had “an inalienable right” to enrich nuclear fuel.
“We responded that the president feels we have the inalienable right to stop you dead in your tracks,” Witkoff said.
According to Witkoff, US President Donald Trump sent him and Jared Kushner to seek a comprehensive agreement under which Iran would eliminate its missile program, end support for regional proxies, dismantle its navy, and halt uranium enrichment.
“We went in there and tried to make a fair deal with them,” Witkoff said, but by the second meeting it was “very, very clear that it was going to be impossible.”
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“They wanted us to report positivity. It was not positive that meeting,” he added.
US President Donald Trump, in his first live public appearance since the US launched strikes on Iran under Operation Epic Fury, said the goals of the campaign were “clear” – dismantling Iran’s missile capacity, crippling its naval forces, and ensuring Tehran can never obtain a nuclear weapon.
Speaking at the White House, he said the US was “destroying Iran’s missile capabilities” and vowed to “annihilate” Iran’s navy.
He also argued that Iran “cannot continue to arm, fund and direct terrorist armies outside their borders,” but did not clarify whether Washington is seeking regime change in Tehran or what “success” would look like once the bombing ends.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sought to calm fears of a prolonged conflict, telling reporters: “This is not Iraq. This is not endless.”
He described Epic Fury as “the most lethal, the most complex, and most precise aerial operation in history,” and said the US would go “as far as we need to” to achieve its objectives, while calling it “foolishness” to publicly define red lines.
“This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change,” he added.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US struck Iran “pre-emptively,” arguing Washington acted after determining Israel was poised to launch its own operation, which would have triggered retaliation against US forces.
“We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action,” Rubio said, warning that “the hardest hits are yet to come from the US military.”