Trump repeats warning to Iran: no uranium enrichment allowed

Key to that mission, Congressman Cory Mills said, was enabling de facto president Ahmed al-Sharaa to scotch what remains of Iran's influence in Syria.

"What do we truly have to lose in this? You know, we know what we have to lose if they ... allow Iran to create a proxy state and what that means for the region and what that means for our allies," Mills said.

Syria’s new leadership is working to stamp out any Iranian activity on its soil, just months after a rebel advance led by al-Sharaa uprooted the Assad dynasty, Tehran's oldest Arab ally.

Damascus has been expelling proxy fighters, cutting off arms transfers to Hezbollah and pursuing new diplomatic partnerships across the region, including potential ties with Israel, Mills told Eye for Iran.

“He’s not allowing these proxy militias to continue to operate there as they did under the Assad regime,” Mills said.

Syria for Syrians

Mills argues this shift presents an opportunity for Washington to engage—both diplomatically and economically—before Russia, China or Iran move to fill the vacuum.

“If we actually open up the platform to allow for contract bidding, to rebuild infrastructure, that is a great first start,” he said, pointing to areas like water, electricity, and telecoms. “This is one of the most strategic geolocations in the entire region.”

Such engagement, he added, would not only counter authoritarian influence—it would create opportunities for American companies, reinforce regional stability, and help prevent Syria from sliding back into sectarian violence.

“The Iranian people could take a lot away from what has happened in Syria,” he said. “This could be them too. But it has to be an Iranian strategy, not an American strategy.”

Sanctions and Syria's new leadership

Until recently, Ahmed al-Sharaa was himself under US sanctions due to his leadership of Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), an Al-Qaeda affiliated group designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the State Department.

On May 13, 2025, President Donald Trump while visiting Saudi Arabia last month made a shock announcement that he was lifting US sanctions on Syria.

Mills stressed that engagement with al-Sharaa must come with clear-eyed realism. “Trust but verify,” he said during the interview. “I think he knows what he has to do. He’s already taken actions that are not just words.”

Diplomatic overtures and regional stability

Mills revealed that al-Sharaa expressed interest in normalizing relations with Israel—albeit cautiously. While no formal talks have begun, the signal alone marks a dramatic shift from the Assad era, which was defined by hostility toward Israel and alignment with Iran and Hezbollah.

“He actually said that we would look at a good relationship and partner with Israel—not the 'Zionist state' ... but he knows the risk that he's taking,” Mills said.

The potential for Syrian-Israeli normalization would echo the Abraham Accords, a US-brokered framework that reshaped parts of the Middle East by bringing Israel into diplomatic relations with several Arab states.

Mills said any future agreements must respect Syria’s sovereignty. “What I don’t support is a balkanization of other sovereign territories,” he said. “I think that good fences make good neighbors.”

The trip to Damascus, however, was not without danger. Mills told Eye for Iran that Islamic State had allegedly plotted to assassinate him while he was in Syria. “They had already put together where they were going to utilize a car bomb,” he said. “They had already put together the location.”

Despite the risks, Mills argued that Syria’s political realignment offers the United States a rare chance to help shape a post-war roadmap—one that sidelines Iran, opens new diplomatic channels and bolsters long-term regional stability.

You can watch the full episode of Eye for Iran with Congressman Cory Mills on YouTube or listen on any major podcast platform like Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music or Castbox.

Tehran will respond to Washington's nuclear deal proposal in the coming days, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday.

“This response will be based on the fundamental principles of the Islamic Republic of Iran and aligned with the interests of the Iranian people,” Araghchi said in an interview with Egypt's Nile News channel.

Araghchi also said that no exact date has been set for the next round of nuclear talks between Iran and the United States but added that Oman continues to play an active role as a mediator in organizing and facilitating the negotiations.

The Iranian top diplomat added that once Iran responds, Oman’s foreign minister will set the time and location for the next round of talks.

On March 7, US President Donald Trump announced in a Fox Business interview that he had sent a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei offering terms for a new nuclear agreement.

Days later, Axios reported that the letter included a two-month deadline for Iran to respond, citing one US official and two sources briefed on the contents of the message.

US officials said the White House began counting this deadline once the talks with Iran started on April 12, according to Axios.

Based on that timeline, the deadline is expected to fall around June 12 - next week.

The network—run by Iranian brothers Mansour, Nasser and Fazlolah Zarringhalam—relied on front companies in Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates to evade sanctions and move funds through a parallel financial system, the US Treasury said.

“Iran’s shadow banking system is a critical lifeline for the government through which it accesses the proceeds from its oil sales, moves money, and funds its destabilizing activities,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement.

According to the Treasury, the Zarringhalam brothers used Iran-based exchange houses—GCM Exchange, Berelian Exchange and Zarrin Ghalam Exchange—alongside dozens of front companies to facilitate transactions for entities such as the National Iranian Oil Company, the Quds Force, and Iran’s Ministry of Defense.

The operations involved fictitious invoices and payments routed through jurisdictions with limited financial oversight, the department said.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce wrote on X that the network had “laundered billions of dollars for the Iranian government.”

“Under @POTUS’s maximum pressure campaign, we will starve Iran of the funds it uses to further its destabilizing activities.”

Friday’s sanctions were the first US measures targeting Iran’s shadow banking infrastructure since President Trump re-imposed “maximum pressure” on Tehran in February, the department said.

Last Sunday, The Wall Street Journal reported that the White House had temporarily paused new sanctions in parallel with ongoing nuclear negotiations, citing a directive from Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

Following Treasury’s announcement, Wall Street Journal reporter Elliot Kaufman wrote on X that the sanctions-pause policy had ended after the newspaper’s coverage. “We can now confirm what we heard Monday and Tuesday: The sanctions‑pause policy has been killed after it was exposed in our WSJ editorial,” he said.

Hamid Aboutalebi, former political director of the presidential office, issued a forceful warning in a post on X Sunday, highlighting the layered diplomatic pressures Iran faces in preventing the referral of its case to the UN Security Council and avoiding a European snapback of 2015 nuclear deal sanctions.

“It appears that Iran has only one path forward to prevent its nuclear case from being referred to the UN Security Council,” he asserted, “(coming to) an understanding with the United States and establishing diplomatic relations with that country.”

Such a thaw would mean that Washington does not back any resolution against Iran in the Board of Governors meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), he added.

If the IAEA determines Iran to be in serious breach, it could refer the case to the Security Council, which may impose sanctions under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, as it did in 2006 under Resolution 1737.

Aboutalebi also warned that withdrawal from the NPT—advocated by some hardliners, including the Supreme Leader–appointed Kayhan editor Hossein Shariatmadari—would deepen the crisis and trigger severe economic and social turmoil.

Hardline outlet Jahan News—affiliated with Tehran Mayor Alireza Zakani—accused Aboutalebi of using a “disrespectful tone” and condemned his call for ties with the US

“This anger stems from the president’s commendable stance toward the Americans,” the outlet wrote.

IAEA concerns, stalled talks

In a confidential May 31 report, the IAEA outlined Iran’s use of undeclared nuclear material at three sites and noted a rise in its 60%-enriched uranium stockpile—now at 408.6 kilograms since February.

This is enough for roughly ten nuclear weapons if further enriched to weapons-grade.

No date has been set for the next round of US-Iran talks, and both sides remain at odds over enrichment.

On Monday, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would not accept any deal that denies its right to peaceful uranium enrichment.

President Trump, posting on Truth Social, reiterated that the US will not allow any enrichment by Iran. The UN Security Council is set to review Resolution 2231—the 2015 nuclear deal’s legal backbone—on June 24.

Criticism of Pezeshkian

Aboutalebi also took aim at Pezeshkian’s recent remarks that Iran has not been brought to its knees by sanctions or failed talks. He likened them to counterproductive slogans from the past.

“Your statements resemble preaching,” he wrote, referencing the slogan “Nuclear energy is our inalienable right,” which, he said, led to “failure and plunged the country into the abyss of Security Council resolutions.”

Although Pezeshkian heads Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, his influence over the nuclear file is limited.

According to senior lawmaker and IRGC general Esmaeil Kowsari, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has appointed a special team that sets overall nuclear strategy.

“Before each round of talks, Iranian negotiators meet separately with that team and with Parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee,” said Kowsari.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday said his mission is to ensure readiness in case no agreement is reached with Iran.

In an interview with Fox Nation, Hegseth said he hopes Iran stops uranium enrichment and dismantles its nuclear capabilities, but added that the United States is prepared for any scenario.

Iran is working to rebuild its defenses and missile capabilities, Hegseth said, adding that Washington recognizes the threat Iran poses to Israel and is closely monitoring the situation.