On Fox News Sunday, Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton expressed support for the Trump administration’s foreign policy and for what he called the “unified position” that Iran cannot enrich uranium as part of a nuclear energy program.
The White House is trying to get a nuclear deal with Iran to replace and improve upon the Obama-era deal that President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018.
Cotton, a hawkish Republican who has advocated attacking Iran, praised special envoy Steve Witkoff, saying he’s been “very clear” that Trump believes that “Iran cannot have the ability to enrich uranium.”
The administration’s position on the matter has in fact been highly ambiguous, with officials sometimes indicating that a new deal with Tehran should end Iranian enrichment and other times saying merely that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Trump “hasn’t decided if Iran can enrich uranium in a new deal.”
Iranian officials have said that Tehran’s right to enrich uranium is “not negotiable.” Many analysts say that a U.S. demand for Iran to stop enrichment and dismantle its civilian nuclear energy program would likely doom negotiations.
Cotton’s apparent expression of support for the administration’s Iran policy may be a subtle attempt to steer Trump toward a hardline stance that would complicate ongoing talks.
U.S. and Iranian officials met in Oman Sunday for a fourth round of nuclear negotiations, with both sides agreeing to hold additional talks on technical matters. A senior Trump official said the U.S. side was “encouraged by today’s outcome.” The Iranians were more ambivalent, with a government spokesman calling the talks “difficult but useful to better understand each other’s positions.”
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