Ignore Iran’s tough talk — hold the red line on no nuclear enrichment

Iran is talking tough on the details of a possible nuclear deal with the United States — which just means Team Trump has to get tougher.

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi dismissed US special envoy Steve Witkoff’s insistence that enrichment of uranium is a “red line” for the US, posting that “enrichment in Iran . . . will continue with or without a deal.”

Treat that as nothing but a bid to squeeze concessions out of the White House before real talks even begin, because if Tehran needs to bend on a lot more than that to put nuclear weapons out of its reach.

Remember: Back in March, Iran’s leaders were saying they wouldn’t negotiate directly with Washington at all.

They changed their tune after President Donald Trump made it clear the other option was US military action and/or crippling sanctions like those that had Iran’s economy in free fall until the Biden crew lifted them.

And Trump has indicated that’s still the plan if US-Iran talks don’t deliver acceptable results, fast.

Witkoff is (now) clear on one part of “acceptable”: Under no circumstances can Iran be allowed to continue enriching uranium.

In fact, it must get rid of the stockpile it already has.

Tehran claims its enriched uranium is for civilian use, for energy and research — which is utter bull.

As of March, The International Atomic Energy Agency found that Iran already had 275 kilograms of uranium at 60% purity, vastly beyond the 3%-5% needed for nuclear reactors and the 3.67% limit that the regime agreed to under the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

That’s enough highly enriched uranium to build half a dozen nuclear bombs within a matter of months.

In 2023, UN inspectors found uranium particles enriched up to 83.7% in an underground site, a hair below the 90% needed for a nuke; Tehran pretended this was an unintentional byproduct of the purification process.

So any serious deal should include a turnover or destruction of Iran’s thousands of advanced centrifuges to ensure enrichment can’t resume.

As well as clear rights for outside inspectors to have unfettered access to any suspected nuclear sites going forward.

Tehran stands in flagrant violation of its promises in signing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty; it never even fully honored its commitments under the 2015 Obama deal.

So any accord now must ensure that Iran can’t slide on any of its commitments.

If the regime’s negotiators hold out for a deal that leaves them within sprinting distance of a nuke, that must be “no deal” for Team Trump — and instant application of still more “maximum pressure,” followed as necessary by strikes on Tehran’s nuclear sites.

Keep insisting on a fully denuclearized Iran, Mr. President.

The world can’t afford anything less.