U.S. President Donald Trump called on Wednesday for the strict enforcement of American sanctions targeting Iran, while expressing hope to reach an agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue, amid growing U.S. opposition to Tehran's uranium enrichment.
"I want to make a deal with Iran. I want to do something, if possible," Donald Trump said during a summit with the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council in Riyadh.
"I strongly urge all nations to join us in fully and completely enforcing the sanctions I just imposed on Iran," continued the president of the world’s leading power.
The U.S. administration has recently sanctioned several entities linked to Iran's oil industry and nuclear program.
During Donald Trump’s first term, the United States withdrew in 2018 from the 2015 agreement between Iran and the major powers to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions, rendering the deal void.
Trump had also imposed drastic sanctions on any country importing Iranian oil.
Trump stated that these secondary sanctions "are in some ways even more devastating" than the direct sanctions targeting Iran.
The Trump administration has already held four rounds of talks with Iran, as the president tries to avoid an Israeli military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Launched on April 12, these talks aim to reach a new deal intended to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, a goal Tehran has always denied, in exchange for the lifting of sanctions that are crippling the Iranian economy.
Both countries have stated that the talks took place in a "positive atmosphere," but they do not appear to have delved deeply into the technical aspects of a potential agreement.
Iran is currently enriching uranium to 60%, well beyond the 3.67% limit set by the 2015 nuclear deal, with a 90% level required for military use. Its stockpiles of fissile material are worrying Western powers.
