US President Donald Trump said the United States will work with Iran to retrieve and destroy its highly enriched uranium if a deal is reached to end the three-month-old war, or will degrade Iran's military to the point where American forces can safely collect the material on their own, in an exclusive interview with NBC News' "Meet the Press."
"If we make a deal that now we're friendly, we'll all go together. It'll be our equipment. We'll take it out and destroy it, whether it's on-site or whether we take it off-site," Trump said. "And we will go with them, or without them."
The two sides are "very close" to signing a pact, Trump said, but he is pushing for Iran to go further in abandoning its nuclear ambitions, including a provision to ensure Iran cannot buy or acquire nuclear material.
Trump described Iran's new leadership, under Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, as "more rational, very smart" and said he is open to direct talks with the new leader, who is "pretty badly injured."
The president said he has no plans to withdraw the 50,000 US troops deployed to the region. "It costs us very little to keep them there," he said, adding that he believes Iran has just "21%, 22%" of its prewar missile stockpile remaining.
Trump acknowledged the war has led to higher gasoline and fertilizer prices but argued it was necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. "The main thing is we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. Can't do it. And we won't do it," he said.
