U.S. President Donald Trump has announced that Iran has agreed not to stockpile nuclear weapons, marking a potential breakthrough in diplomatic negotiations amid the ongoing Middle East war involving Tehran.
The announcement came as the three-month-old conflict between the United States and Iran continues, with the war mired in a stalemate under a shaky ceasefire and the Strait of Hormuz largely closed to maritime traffic.
The war began in late February following U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Iran, which targeted nuclear installations in both countries. President Trump has stated that the military campaign was initiated to prevent Iran from pursuing nuclear armament.
Iran was previously viewed as being in a state of “nuclear weapons latency,” meaning it possessed the necessary tools to develop a nuclear bomb but had not yet done so. In May 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported that Iran’s cache of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium had surged by about 50 percent over the prior three months.
The IAEA found that Iran was just a step away from having enough enriched uranium for ten nuclear weapons, prompting the United States to launch “Operation Midnight Hammer” in response. Experts have previously said Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in as quickly as several months, possibly a year.
Iran has repeatedly stated that its nuclear program serves peaceful purposes, with government spokespersons saying “nuclear weapons have no place in our nuclear doctrine.” However, Tehran has been ramping up uranium enrichment to up to 60 percent, close to the roughly 90 percent weapons-grade threshold.
The reported agreement would impose limits on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, blocking Iran’s access to the enriched uranium and plutonium required to make nuclear weapons. This mirrors elements of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which expired on October 18, 2025.
The conflict has killed thousands of people, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, while also causing global economic pain by pushing up energy prices, with oil prices jumping by more than 1% in early trade following the latest flare-ups.
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