[[{"content_id":414285,"content_number":0,"portal_id":2,"lang_id":"en","content_title":"Trump ‘curious’ why Iran hasn’t ‘capitulated’ despite massive US military buildup: Witkoff","content_rtitr":"","content_short_title":null,"content_summary":"US special envoy to West Asia, Steve Witkoff, said on Saturday that US President Donald Trump is \"curious\" as to why Iran has not \"capitulated\" to US demands to strike a deal on its nuclear program.","content_summary_fill":1,"content_body":"Speaking to Lara Trump, the president&rsquo;s daughter-in-law on Fox news, Witkoff&nbsp; said, &ldquo;The president asked me that this morning, and he&rsquo;s &mdash; I don&rsquo;t wanna use the word frustrated&hellip; because he understands he&rsquo;s got plenty of alternatives, but&hellip; he&rsquo;s curious as to why they haven&rsquo;t, I don&rsquo;t wanna use the word capitulated, but why they haven&rsquo;t capitulated.&rdquo;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nHe added that Trump is wondering &ldquo;why, under this pressure, with the amount of sea power and naval power over there, why haven&#39;t they come to us and said, &#39;we profess we don&#39;t want a weapon, so here&#39;s what we&#39;re prepared to do?&#39;&rdquo;\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nClaiming that Iran has enriched uranium beyond levels needed for civilian purposes, Witkoff said that Trump&rsquo;s red lines require Iran to maintain &ldquo;zero enrichment&rdquo; of uranium.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nHe also confirmed in the interview that he had met with Reza Pahlavi, &quot;I met him at the direction of the president,&quot; he said, without providing further details.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nWhile the interview came in the backdrop of Iran-US tensions, on one hand, Trump is constantly calling upon Iran to &quot;make a deal,&quot; while on the other hand, he is continuously increasing military presence in the region.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, Tehran has also constantly stated that it would respond decisively to any act of fresh military adventurism, as in the case of the US attacks last June, which prompted a ballistic missile barrage against Al Udeid, Washington&rsquo;s most important regional airbase, which is located in Qatar.","content_html":"<p><span style=\"font-size:16px;\">Speaking to Lara Trump, the president&rsquo;s daughter-in-law on Fox news, Witkoff&nbsp; said, &ldquo;The president asked me that this morning, and he&rsquo;s &mdash; I don&rsquo;t wanna use the word frustrated&hellip; because he understands he&rsquo;s got plenty of alternatives, but&hellip; he&rsquo;s curious as to why they haven&rsquo;t, I don&rsquo;t wanna use the word capitulated, but why they haven&rsquo;t capitulated.&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:16px;\">He added that Trump is wondering &ldquo;why, under this pressure, with the amount of sea power and naval power over there, why haven&#39;t they come to us and said, &#39;we profess we don&#39;t want a weapon, so here&#39;s what we&#39;re prepared to do?&#39;&rdquo;<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:16px;\">Claiming that Iran has enriched uranium beyond levels needed for civilian purposes, Witkoff said that Trump&rsquo;s red lines require Iran to maintain &ldquo;zero enrichment&rdquo; of uranium.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:16px;\">He also confirmed in the interview that he had met with Reza Pahlavi, &quot;I met him at the direction of the president,&quot; he said, without providing further details.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:16px;\">While the interview came in the backdrop of Iran-US tensions, on one hand, Trump is constantly calling upon Iran to &quot;make a deal,&quot; while on the other hand, he is continuously increasing military presence in the region.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\r\n\r\n<p><span style=\"font-size:16px;\">Meanwhile, Tehran has also constantly stated that it would respond decisively to any act of fresh military adventurism, as in the case of the US attacks last June, which prompted a ballistic missile barrage against Al Udeid, Washington&rsquo;s most important regional airbase, which is located in Qatar.<\/span><\/p>","content_source":"","content_url":"","content_date_start":"2026-02-23 09:28:22","content_date_event":"2026-02-23 09:28:22","content_date_event_start":null,"content_date_event_end":null,"content_show_title_slider":1,"content_date_last_edit":"2026-02-23 09:29:39","content_date_register":"2026-02-23 09:29:39","content_columns":0,"content_show_img":1,"content_show_details":0,"content_show_related_img":0,"content_show_slider":1,"content_comment":1,"content_score":0,"tag_id":0,"score_average":null,"score_count":null,"score_date_last":null,"uid":43,"eid":0,"attach_title":"Trump ‘curious’ why Iran hasn’t ‘capitulated’ despite massive US military buildup: Witkoff","attaches":[{"sizes":{"150":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566406_3319564076_150_84.webp","300":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566406_3319564076_300_168.webp","400":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566406_3319564076_400_224.webp","600":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566406_3319564076_600_337.webp","900":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566406_3319564076_900_505.webp","1200":".\/cache\/2\/attach\/202602\/566406_3319564076_1000_561.jpg"},"ext":"jpg","file_media":1,"token":3319564076,"files":{"original":{"url":".\/file\/2\/attach\/202602\/566406_3319564076.jpg","width":1000,"height":561,"size":0}}}]}]]