Trump: I don’t ‘even think about’ Iran’s enriched uranium, ‘it’s so deeply buried’

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says that he “doesn’t even think about” Iran’s stockpiles of highly-enriched uranium, whose recovery experts say is critical to ensuring that Tehran can’t rush to a nuclear weapon.

“I don’t I even think about it. I just know that it’s so deeply buried it’s going to be very hard for anybody” to reach it, Trump tells CBS News in a phone interview, referencing last year’s US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities where the stockpiles are believed to be held.

“It’s down there deep… Even without a war, they haven’t been able to do it. So… it’s pretty safe. But, we’ll make a determination,” he adds.

Trump says he’s holding off on pulling US assets from the region that would be needed to help restore freedom of movement in the Strait of Hormuz, the key pathway for oil blocked by Iran, while reiterating his frustration with NATO allies for not enlisting in the effort.

“At some point I will [pull US forces], not quite yet. But countries have to come in and take care of it. Iran has been decimated,” Trump says.

NATO allies have responded that the US launched this war against Iran without consulting them, but is now demanding their assistance for a problem that they weren’t responsible for creating in the first place.

Asked when the war might wind down completely, Trump is again non-committal. “It won’t be long,” he says.

“I would say we are two weeks ahead of schedule,” Trump claims, even though the White House has said the war would last four to six weeks, and the war is now in its fifth week.

Trump adds that it will take Iran “10 years to rebuild” after the war.