Netanyahu Continues to Press US: All Enriched Uranium Must Be "Removed" from Iran
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has insisted that any deal between the United States and Iran must include the removal of all of Iran’s enriched uranium, as well as Tehran’s capability to enrich further.
His comments came as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi departed for Switzerland on Sunday, 16 February 2026, for the second round of renewed nuclear talks with the United States this weekend.
In his speech in Jerusalem, Netanyahu emphasised that any agreement must include several elements.
“The first is that all enriched material (uranium) must be removed from Iran,” Netanyahu said. “The second is that there must be no enrichment capability… dismantle the equipment and infrastructure that enable you to enrich in the first place.”
The third, he said, is resolving the issue of ballistic missiles.
Citing two sources familiar with the matter, CBS News reported on Sunday that US President Donald Trump told Netanyahu during their meeting in Florida in December that he would support an Israeli strike on Iran’s ballistic missile programme if Washington and Tehran could not reach a deal.
As media outlets have noted, considerable uncertainty surrounds the fate of Iran’s stockpile of more than 400 kilogrammes of 60 per cent enriched uranium, last seen by nuclear watchdog inspectors in June, before Israeli and American strikes on Iranian nuclear sites.
Speaking at a conference of presidents of major American Jewish organisations, Netanyahu indicated that he had insisted on these conditions during his conversations with Trump earlier this month. He also called for ongoing inspections of Tehran’s nuclear programme.
“There must be real inspections, substantive inspections, not just timely inspections, but effective inspections for all of the above,” he said.
“These are the elements that we believe are essential to reaching a deal.”
Tehran and Washington resumed nuclear negotiations in Muscat on 6 February, several months after previous talks collapsed when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran last June that triggered a 12-day war.