Trump: US or China Could Remove Iran’s “Nuclear Dust”

US or Chinese forces could enter Iran to retrieve its “nuclear dust”—enriched uranium that could be further refined to produce weapons-grade material—President Trump has said.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, President Trump said, “At the right time, we‘ll either go in, or we’ll get it. I think we‘ll probably get it, but if we don’t get it, we’ll go in.”

A top Iranian official had said the US and “possibly China” could retrieve the material, the President continued.

In response to a question about whether the presence of US forces on Iranian soil could trigger a war, President Trump replied, “I think they’ll be totally defeated. And we won’t have any risk. We have the equipment to take it out; nobody else does. China might have the equipment.”

The President added that Iran doesn’t “have the technology” to remove the nuclear material. In a recent interview with Sean Hannity, Trump said Iran can’t reach the material because a “mountain collapsed on it.”

.@USAmbUN: "We have to remember, there's no reason for Iran to have this 'dust,' which is 60% highly enriched uranium. There is no country in the world that enriches to that level that doesn't then have nuclear weapons—because there's no reason to do it." pic.twitter.com/eXRTu4TACi

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 15, 2026

Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz, Fordau and Isfahan were struck first in the summer of 2025, as part of Operation Midnight Hammer, and again during the present hostilities, which began at the end of February.

President Trump has repeatedly said he will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.

On Friday, President Trump also commented on the latest peace proposal from Iran, which he said did not go far enough in its nuclear guarantees.

“If they have any nuclear of any form, I don’t read the rest of it,” Trump told reporters.

He said he would be willing to accept a 20-year moratorium on nuclear weapons.

🚨 President Trump just announced Iran AGREED to give the US "everything," then BACKED OUT

"They were going to give us the dust, nuclear dust, everything we wanted. And every time they make a deal, the next day it's like we didn't have that conversation."

"And that's taken… pic.twitter.com/gpL17kgSmW

— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 15, 2026

This week, Admiral Brad Cooper of US Central Command told the Senate Armed Forces Committee that Iran’s “once-massive inventory” of sea mines has largely been destroyed.

“The Iranian ability to stop commerce has been dramatically degraded through the straits, but their voice is very loud, and those threats are clearly heard by the merchant industry and the insurance industry,” Cooper told lawmakers in the hearing.

The US blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has prevented at least 75 ships from heading to or from Iran so far.

Cooper said Iran still has a “very moderate, if not small, capability to ​continue strikes.”

“And we, of course, have accordingly prepared for such a contingency,” he added.

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