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"Very complex assignment": Trump's claim Iran agreed to hand over 'nuclear dust' raises questions

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Fri, 17 Apr 2026, 8:31am
(Photo by Alex Brandon / POOL / AFP)
(Photo by Alex Brandon / POOL / AFP)

"Very complex assignment": Trump's claim Iran agreed to hand over 'nuclear dust' raises questions

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Fri, 17 Apr 2026, 8:31am

Removal of Iran’s enriched uranium will be a “very, very complex assignment” that would take many months – and that’s if Iran has actually agreed to its removal. 

US President Donald Trump told reporters this morning that Iran had agreed to give up its enriched uranium, but that had raised plenty of questions, US Correspondent Richard Arnold told Mike Hosking. 

The 444.9kg of uranium, enriched up to 60% purity, was left over after US and Israeli airstrikes last March, despite Trump’s claim at the time that Iran’s nuclear stocks were totally obliterated, Arnold pointed out. 

“Has Iran really agreed to this? We're yet to hear from, you know, the Iranians. No deal until, and unless, there's a deal.” 

A 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon had also been announced, but Trump was “covering all bases” by sending another 10,000 US troops to the Middle East, Arnold said. 

One political science expert —Professor Robert Pape of the University of Chicago— had put the chances of renewed US military action at about 70%. 

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