The Trump administration is urging Iran to abandon its entire nuclear program or face the consequences, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz said Sunday.
During an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Waltz said it was time for Iran to “walk away completely” from its pursuit of nuclear weapons, calling for a “full dismantlement.”
“This isn’t some kind of, you know, kind of tit-for-tat that we had under the Obama administration or Biden,” Waltz told reporters. “This is the complete program. “Give it up, or there will be consequences.”
Waltz did not specify the consequences Iran may face, but he did say President Donald Trump is keeping “all options on the table,” including diplomacy.
Waltz stated that the Trump administration wants Iran to abandon its nuclear program “in a way that the entire world can see.”
“If [Iran] had nuclear weapons, the entire Middle East would explode in an arms race,” he joked. “That is totally unacceptable for our national security. I won’t go into the back-and-forth, but Iran’s national security situation is the worst it has been since 1979.
Tensions between Tehran and Washington have been high since Iran’s proxies, Hamas and Hezbollah, launched attacks against Israel in recent years. Iran exchanged fire with Israel twice last year.
Trump has threatened US military action if Iran does not reach a new nuclear agreement.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has stated that he is not interested in talks with a “bullying government,” despite previous suggestions from Iranian diplomats, including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. Araghchi eventually toughened his stance, following Khamenei’s lead.
The original 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated by former President Barack Obama, allowed Iran to enrich uranium to only 3.67% purity and keep a stockpile of 661 pounds.
According to the most recent International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran’s program, the country’s stockpile is 18,286 pounds, with a fraction of it being enriched to 60% purity.
U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iran has yet to begin a weapons program, but has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce a nuclear device, if it chooses to do so.”
