Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume said Wednesday that President Donald Trump slightly misstated Iran’s long-standing public position on nuclear weapons.
Trump delivered his State of the Union address Tuesday, outlining his administration’s national security, economic and foreign policy priorities. Hume addressed the matter on “Special Report with Bret Baier” as U.S. envoys prepared for talks in Geneva.
“We’re talking now about concessions that they’ve never been close to making at any point that we know of,” Hume told host Bret Baier. “And I think that’s what it comes down to. The president misspoke slightly last night when he said that they’ve never been willing to say that they won’t have a nuclear weapon.”
Hume pushed back on how Trump characterized Iran’s nuclear stance, saying Tehran’s repeated public denials are not the central issue as negotiations continue.
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“They say that all the time, as you know, Bret. The question is whether they will stop doing all the things that they are doing that you would not need to do unless you were trying to build a nuclear weapon. And that, of course, has been the point of contention in these talks,” Hume added.
Hume said he doubted that ongoing talks with Iran are anywhere near producing a deal.
“And so far as we know, they have not been willing to say we will not enrich uranium beyond a certain amount, or not at all. And will let people bring us already enriched uranium that we can use for peaceful purposes. So I don’t know that these talks really are close to any kind of an agreement that would ward off the kind of action the president seems now well prepared to take.”
U.S. and Iranian negotiators in Geneva agreed on broad guiding principles for a potential nuclear framework. Major disputes remain, however, particularly over uranium enrichment caps and ballistic missile restrictions. Tehran has not committed to firm limits on enrichment. (RELATED: UN Chief Congratulates Iran On Anniversary Of Bloody Islamic Revolution)
Iran has continued enriching uranium at levels that exceed typical civilian energy requirements while resisting binding caps that would permanently restrict its program. With no clear agreement on enforceable limits, officials warned the coming months could bring the most consequential American military action in the Middle East in more than a decade.
“The boss is getting fed up. Some people around him warn him against going to war with Iran, but I think there is a 90% chance we see kinetic action in the next few weeks,” one Trump adviser told Axios.
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