President Donald Trump has been told by Iran that only the United States and China have the equipment to remove the “nuclear dust” from nuclear sites struck in Operation Midnight Hammer last Summer.
Trump’s comments came to reporters aboard Air Force One during the flight to the United States following his China trip this week.
“[Iran] said that they can’t remove it because they don’t have the technology to remove it,” Trump told reporters. “They don’t have the type of tractors… They told me directly, they said the only one that can remove it is China or the U.S., we’re the only ones with the equipment.”
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Trump noted that the Iranians have acknowledged the sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan were destroyed by the bunker busters used in Operation Midnight Hammer, but he still wants to remove the material deep underground, which remains a sticking point in a potential deal.
“They said, ‘You were right, it is a complete obliteration.’ With that being said, I want to get it, and they agreed to it, but then they took it back, but they’ll agree to it eventually,” he added.
Without getting into specifics and speaking generally about Iran, Trump told Fox News’s Sean Hannity on Thursday that Chinese President Xi Jinping has offered to help.
“He said, ‘If I can be of any help at all, I would like to be of help’… Anybody that buys that much oil has obviously got some kind of a relationship with them… He’d like to see the Hormuz Strait open,” Trump said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that Trump did not request help from Xi regarding Iran, and said the U.S. does not need China’s assistance, echoing comments Trump made to Breitbart News on the South Lawn on Tuesday while departing the White House for China.
“He could. I mean, it might be. I don’t think we need any help with Iran, to be honest with you,” Trump said when asked if Xi would contribute to a deal on Tuesday. “They’re defeated militarily, and they’ll either do the right thing, or we’ll finish the job.”
Trump was also asked on the return flight to the United States on Friday for his thoughts on Iran’s latest proposal to the United States in negotiations to end the war, to which he said, “I looked at it, and if I don’t like the first sentence, I just throw it away.”
A reporter followed up, asking what the first sentence said.
“An unacceptable sentence, because they have fully agreed no nuclear, and if they have any nuclear of any form, I don’t read the rest of their letter,” he added.