U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said that he believes negotiations with Iran to end hostilities are making progress, after President Donald Trump rejected Tehran's latest proposal as unacceptable.
Vance told reporters at the White House, “I think we’re making progress. The fundamental question is: Are we making enough progress to reach the red line that the president has set?” He added, “The red line is very clear. He needs to be assured that we have put in place a number of safeguards that guarantee Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.”
For its part, the US Senate on Wednesday narrowly rejected a draft resolution seeking to order the withdrawal of troops involved in the war on Iran, with the Republican majority opposing limiting President Donald Trump's military powers.
The text, like other draft resolutions introduced by the Democratic opposition in recent weeks, garnered 49 votes in favor (including three Republican senators) and 50 votes against.
For the first time since the start of the war, Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski voted in favor of calling for the withdrawal of US forces from the war on Iran.
“We thought we would get more clarity from the government about our position (in the dispute) and I have not received any clarification,” Murkowski told Punchbowl News after the vote.
The US Constitution states that only Congress has the power to declare war, and therefore the Democrats want to reaffirm the powers of the legislative branch in this matter in the face of the executive branch represented by Trump.
While the law allows the president to initiate hostilities in response to an imminent threat, it requires him to obtain authorization from Congress within 60 days.
However, in early May, Trump ignored this deadline, claiming that the conflict was over because of the ongoing ceasefire with Iran.
Democrats object to this justification, pointing to the continued deployment of US forces to impose a blockade on Iranian ports.
Several Republican lawmakers have stated that after the 60 days have passed, they will demand that the executive branch obtain authorization from Congress.
But despite three Republican senators voting in favor of the resolution, it was not enough for it to pass.
For his part, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told lawmakers that Iran is “frighteningly close” to manufacturing nuclear weapons, stressing that Tehran is only “weeks” away from enriching one ton of its uranium to weapons-grade levels.
“They are frighteningly close,” Wright said during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee. “They are only weeks away – a few weeks – from enriching that quantity to weapons-grade uranium. It is true that there is a weaponization process that takes place after that, but they are very close to manufacturing nuclear weapons,” CNN reported.
Enriching uranium beyond a certain threshold – about 90% – means it can be used to make nuclear weapons.
In response to a question from Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal about the status of the other 11 tons of uranium that Iran is said to possess, Wright said that enrichment levels there range up to 60%, although Iran has “significant quantities” of uranium enriched to 20%, which he described as “very concerning.”
Blumenthal then pressed Wright on whether President Donald Trump would have to target all of Iran's uranium stockpiles in order to halt the enrichment process, and the minister replied: “I think that is the wise strategy. Ultimately, the goal is also to prevent future uranium enrichment. Yes, in order to have a safe world, we must end their nuclear program.”
Many Trump administration officials cited Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium as part of the rationale for waging war against Iran, and Trump also stated his desire for Iran to surrender its enriched uranium in order to reach an agreement that would end the conflict.
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