Ahead of the outbreak of the US and Israeli war against Iran, the Islamic Republic had 460 kilograms of uranium enriched up to 60%, which it could have taken to make a “dirty bomb,” US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told CNBC on Tuesday.
"There is no reason to be at 60%. None. Zero reason, unless you're pursuing a weapon," he said.
Witkoff added that Iran began negotiations with the US claiming that it had enough material to make eleven bombs and that it was a week to a week and a half away from military enrichment. The envoy added that Iran had further predication negotiations on the stance that it wouldn’t turn over to the US through diplomacy what the US could not win through military means.
That was reason enough for us to determine that they weren't there to be purposefully negotiating a diplomatic settlement to this conflict," he said
Witkoff: Russians denied sharing with Iran intelligence on US military assets
Additionally, following a report that Russia had provided Iran with intelligence on US military assets, Witkoff told CNBC that the Russians had denied the allegations.
Witkoff said the denial came during President Donald Trump's phone conversation on Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that Russia was providing Iran with targeting information that included locations of US warships and aircraft in the Middle East.
"Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing," Witkoff said when asked if Washington thought Russia had shared with Tehran intelligence about the location of US military assets.
"We can take them at their word. But they did say that. And yesterday morning, independently, Jared (Kushner) and I had a call with (Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri) Ushakov, who reiterated the same," said Witkoff.
He added, "That's a better question for the intel people, but let's hope that they're not sharing."