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The Trump administration has issued a stark ultimatum to Iran
23:52, Sun, May 24, 2026 Updated: 00:15, Mon, May 25, 2026
USA and Iran flags waving together (Image: rarrarorro via Getty Images)
The administration of US President Donald Trump has issued a stark ultimatum to Tehran as the world waits to see whether the country will relinquish its enriched uranium stockpile.
A senior Trump official declared on Sunday, May 24, "no dust, no dollars" for Iran — meaning Tehran will receive no relief unless it surrenders its enriched uranium.
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Trump announced a memorandum of understanding on Saturday, which would see the Strait of Hormuz reopened while allowing a further 30 days for nuclear negotiations to continue.
The strait has remained closed by Iran since the conflict erupted nearly three months ago, when the US and Israel conducted joint strikes against several key Iranian targets.
Trump officials confirmed that no deal was forthcoming immediately, stating it would require at least five to seven days to finalise any agreement.
Satellite view of the Strait of Hormuz (Image: Alones Creative via Getty Images)
"Both sides must take their time and get it right. There can be no mistakes!" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
A senior administration official said that Iran will not gain much if it does not without fulfil promises to surrender its enriched uranium.
The official told reporters: "95% is done, but literally changing words requires days of deliberation in their system."
"No dust, no dollars - in other words, no highly enriched uranium, then the Iranians aren't going to get any real relief."
"If they do nothing, they get nothing. If they do a lot, they can actually get a lot."
The same senior Trump official stated in a Sunday afternoon briefing that Trump's team will "get a better deal" than the Obama administration's multinational Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement.
(FILES) US President Donald Trump speaks during a Mother's Day luncheon in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, DC, on May 8, 2026. US President Donald Trump said on May 23 that Iran and the US had "largely negotiated" a deal that included opening the Strait of Hormuz, but the draft was "subject to finalization." (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images) (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The JCPOA permitted Iran to continue certain enrichment activities.
The official said that "there were pallets of cash, and we did fly $1.7 billion of money from American banks there, and they used it to build centrifuges and finance terrorism".
American and Iranian negotiators are presently in talks regarding a complete prohibition on enrichment lasting several decades, although the exact timeframe remains undetermined.
"No one disputes that the stockpiled enriched material will be disposed of. It's a question about how," the official said.
"And then simultaneously, while we're figuring out that question of how, we're going to have this thing where the strait open, the blockade is lifted and we get the economy some breathing room."
English (US) · 