US will eventually remove Iran’s enriched uranium – Rubio

The United States will ultimately remove Iran’s highly enriched uranium despite the regime’s resistance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed on Saturday.

In an interview with Vishu Som of NDTV, the top diplomat assured the extraction is “very doable” from a technical standpoint, but Tehran has refused to discuss it.

Rubio referenced the recent removal of highly enriched uranium from Venezuela with assistance from the United Kingdom and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Noting that Iran’s tough stance needs to change, Rubio emphasized the issue will be addressed anyway, even though Washington prefers a diplomatic solution. 

“Our preference remains by far to be able to negotiate our way through this and arrive at an agreement,” he said. “But we’re going to solve it one way or the other.”

Speaking on the Strait of Hormuz stalemate that precipitated a global energy crisis, Rubio insists the situation cannot become the status quo nor go on forever.

“The straits cannot continue to be closed. It is illegal,” he declared. “They are basically threatening and have fired upon commercial vessels.”

The Secretary stressed that it is unlawful for a country to take international waterways, turn them into theirs and charge a toll for it, like Iran is trying to do.

Rubio reiterated the Trump Administration’s posture that “Iran can never have a nuclear weapon,” saying the issues of enrichment and the highly enriched uranium must be confronted.