Trump Says No Iran Sanctions Relief Even if Tehran Gives Up Enriched Uranium

President Donald Trump said the US will not ease economic sanctions on Iran even if Tehran gives up its highly enriched uranium.

In a phone interview with PBS on May 27, Trump was asked whether the current talks involve Iran abandoning highly enriched uranium in return for sanctions relief. "No. Not at all. There is no sanctions relief," he said.

Trump also said it would be "uncomfortable" for China or Russia to take custody of Iran's 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. The comments indicate Washington would not allow the material to be transferred to countries such as Russia, which has relatively close ties with Iran.

The two countries, meanwhile, continued limited clashes. The US military carried out an airstrike on an Iranian military facility and shot down four Iranian attack drones that day, saying they threatened navigation through the Strait of Hormuz and posed a risk to American forces. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in turn, said it had launched a retaliatory strike on a US base in the Gulf region.

Park Shin-young, New York correspondent, Hankyung.com, nyusos@hankyung.com