Iran’s nuclear program has survived, giving it leverage in talks

new point of economic leverage through its control of the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. and Israel have long been focused on preventing Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Thwarting Iran’s nuclear ambitions was one of Washington’s top reasons for going to war.U.S.

and Israeli strikes destroyed labs and research facilities that they say Iran used for its nuclear weapons-related work. They also further damaged its enrichment program, taking out a site for making yellowcake—the raw material that can be turned into enriched uranium.But Iran still likely has centrifuges and a site deep underground where it may be able to enrich uranium, experts say. Crucially, it held on to its stockpile of nearly 1,000 pounds of near weapons-grade uranium—half of it buried in caskets in a tunnel deep under its Isfahan nuclear site, according to the U.N.

atomic agency.“Iran is not going to trade those away easily. Its demands are going to be higher than they were” during talks in February for surrendering the material, said Eric Brewer, a former White House official who worked on Iran during Trump’s first administration.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday that Iran had indicated it was prepared to surrender its enriched uranium and that getting Tehran to do so was a priority for the U.S. She said ending uranium enrichment in Iran was a “red line” that Trump wasn’t going to back down from.Much of the damage that has been done to Iran’s nuclear program occurred during the 12-day war last year.