‘Iran bragged about having 60% enriched fuel, enough for 11 bombs’: Trump envoy reveals what happened in first talks

Iran told U.S. negotiators during early nuclear discussions that it had enriched uranium to 60% – a level that could yield material for 11 nuclear bombs – and insisted it would not concede diplomatically what Washington could not obtain through military force, according to U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.

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The remarks offered a rare account of the early stages of U.S.–Iran negotiations that unfolded before the war between Iran and Israel escalated into direct American military involvement.

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Witkoff said Tehran entered talks asserting what it described as a sovereign right to continue uranium enrichment. “That is going to be up to the President,” he said when asked whether there was any space for a deal with Tehran. “But they (Iran) did not seem to be very amenable in those first set of negotiations. They (Iran) said, ‘We have the inalienable right to enrich.’ They bragged about having 60% enriched fuel — enough for 11 bombs. They told me and Jared Kushner, ‘We’re not going to give you diplomatically what you couldn’t take militarily.’ They are going to need to change their attitude.”

The comments come as U.S. President Donald Trump has hardened his position on Tehran amid an expanding military campaign alongside Israel.

Trump has demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” as U.S. and Israeli forces continue strikes targeting Iran’s military infrastructure, leadership, and nuclear facilities. “There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He said Washington and its allies would rebuild Iran’s economy if the country accepted new leadership aligned with international demands.

“After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before. IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE. MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!).”

Trump also suggested Washington currently holds strong negotiating leverage. “We have negotiating leverage, maybe maximum. But we are not looking to settle. They are going to settle, we are not going to settle.”

Under Trump’s second term, the United States and Iran resumed nuclear negotiations in 2025–2026, several years after Washington withdrew from the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) during Trump’s first presidency.

On March 7, 2025, Trump publicly said he had sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei proposing new nuclear negotiations while also announcing additional sanctions on Tehran. A month later, the first round of talks was held on April 12, 2025, in Oman. The meeting ended with both sides agreeing to continue discussions after U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi briefly spoke during the negotiations.

Further rounds of negotiations followed in Oman and Rome through April and May 2025, involving Witkoff and Araghchi as the primary representatives for their respective governments. 

Diplomatic contacts resumed in early 2026. Iran and the US held indirect talks in Oman on February 6, 2026. A second meeting followed on February 17, 2026, in Geneva. Another round of negotiations was scheduled for February 26, 2026, in Geneva, as the United States simultaneously assembled one of the largest deployments of warplanes and aircraft in the Middle East in decades.

Israel and the US carried out joint strikes on Iran on February 28.