US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that America has “total control” of the Strait of Hormuz and that it does not want toll on the strait in order to keep it “free, without tolls” as Iran’s chokehold on the key waterway continues.
Standoff over Iran’s enriched Uranium stockpile
Addressing the media at the Oval Office, Trump vowed to recover Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium despite statements from Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei that Tehran will not hand over the material.
“We will get it. We don’t need it, we don’t want it. We’ll probably destroy it after we get it, but we’re not going to let them have it,” Trump told reporters at the White House.
“Can they keep their highly enriched uranium?”@POTUS: “No. We will get it. We don’t need it. We don’t want it. We’ll probably destroy it after we get it — but we’re not going to let them have it.” pic.twitter.com/fHmF1UHXOe
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) May 21, 2026
A Reuters report stated that Iran possesses around 900 pounds of highly enriched uranium, which the US president said was buried by America and Israel in attacks last year. The central objective of Trump administration to launch the war against Iran has been to retrieve the enriched uranium, so that Iran is not able to develop a nuclear weapon.
The report added that a directive has been issued by Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei stating that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad.
Diplomatic push and Pakistani mediation
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio poised hope on Thursday ahead of Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir’s visit to Tehran that it will advance the diplomacy on ending the near three months old conflict and said that there has been progress in that regard.
“I believe the Pakistanis will be traveling to Tehran today. So hopefully that’ll advance this further,” Rubio said, adding “There are some good signs, but…I don’t want to be overly optimistic, as well, so let’s see what happens over the next few days.”
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US rejects Strait of Hormuz tolling system
However, the US secretary of state warned that a deal between Washington and Tehran won’t take place if Iran moves forward with a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz.
