Trump is already popping champagne: "Iran has effectively abandoned plans for nuclear weapons"

US President Donald Trump declared that Iran has effectively abandoned its plans to develop nuclear weapons, linking the statement to falling oil prices. The remarks were made on his way to a campaign rally, contradicting a more cautious stance he expressed just days earlier. Tehran has not officially committed to abandoning the program, and indirect negotiations mediated by Qatar and Pakistan continue without a breakthrough.

US President Donald Trump declared that Iran has "effectively abandoned" plans to develop nuclear weapons. The statement was made last night as he left the White House en route to a campaign rally in Ohio. Trump linked the declaration to falling oil prices, which had surged following the war and strikes against Iran that began in late February. The remark is particularly striking because just on September 29, Trump sounded far more reserved, saying he did not know if Iran was "going to give up yet." Despite his new statements, no new agreement has been published in which Iran commits to abandoning the possibility of developing nuclear weapons. Indirect contacts between Washington and Tehran continue, mediated by Qatar and Pakistan, but no binding breakthrough has been reported so far. Iran, for its part, denies that it is seeking a nuclear bomb. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said at the UN that his country does not seek nuclear weapons, partly due to a religious prohibition, and offered to dilute enriched uranium stockpiles under international supervision. However, Tehran makes clear it will not agree to structural concessions in its civilian nuclear program as long as the US does not lift sanctions. The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that Iran has accumulated uranium enriched to 60 percent, close to the threshold needed for weapons. The official US position remains that Iran will not be allowed to possess nuclear weapons, and economic pressure on it continues.