US president details risks of a ground operation in Iran to remove enriched uranium, emphasized that 'we have powerful cameras on it' - and did not rule out a meeting with Mojtaba Khamenei: 'We killed his father, his wife and his son, so I'm probably not his favorite person'U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday night there is no reason to remove enriched uranium from Iran. "It's entombed,” Trump said, adding that he "doesn’t like" the idea of the U.S. military doing it.“We thought about it, and I didn’t want to be in a position where we had to go in there,” the president told reporters at the White House. "It's not like it's not like Venezuela, like you go in, you're there for a matter of minutes and you're out and everybody's waving goodbye as you, and you brought the cargo to be there for two weeks, you need massive equipment to airlift the equipment, and you're in a war zone."President Donald Trump talks about situation in Iran (Video: The White House)Trump said he “didn’t want to be Jimmy Carter,” referring to the hostage crisis after the Islamic Revolution. He stressed that to remove the uranium, “you would have had to be there for a week or two, you would have needed enormous equipment, you would have had to fly the equipment in, and you are in a war zone. There was a stage, right at the beginning, when we thought about doing it, because they would not have found out, at least not immediately. But eventually they would have found out, because for a week or two it would have required a huge logistical operation. So we would have gotten it, but I said I don’t like the idea.”The president went on to explain the risks of such an operation: “Suddenly the Iranians would locate you precisely. They still had missiles left, meaning they could target you and keep firing again and again until one got through. I didn’t like it. We can get it right now, I don’t think they can stop us if we want to, but there is no reason to do it.”2 View gallery President Donald Trump speaks to reporters at the White House (Photo: Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)Trump explained: “The uranium is entombed. We also have very powerful cameras monitoring it through the Space Force. Every door is a door, and you know where the doors go? They go to bad places but every single place on those mountains, basically we hit three times because we also hit it with Tomahawks after, you know, after that we hit it with Tomahawks. Every inch of that land has cameras on it, we have about nine of them and they are on and we cover it. So if anyone even got near it we would know what we have to do."He was then asked whether he would meet with the new ayatollah, Mojtaba Khamenei, and replied: “I don’t want to meet, but if I do meet — I would be honored to meet with him. I would like to see whether we can reach an agreement, and if we reach an agreement, I may meet with him. That’s fine with me. If it happens, I will be respectful, because in Operation Epic Fury his father, his wife and his child were killed, so he probably has hard feelings and won’t want to meet. Well, I would say I’m not his favorite person, but still, he is probably a professional.”2 View gallery President Donald Trump says he would be 'honored' to meet Mojtaba Khamenei(Photos: Anna Moneymaker / AFP, CENTCOM, Shutterstock)“I don’t know,” he concluded, “but apparently in certain circles he has a very good reputation. Actually, you know, there are people who say bad things about him, but they say a lot of bad things about me too. That is completely false, of course.”According to Trump, “We did a good job regarding Iran. You will still find out what the agreement is, but its central parts are that they cannot have nuclear weapons. The Strait of Hormuz will open immediately, and we have already largely swept the mines. We have some of the most sophisticated underwater minesweepers. So I think we are doing very well, but we’ll see. We will win either way, militarily or on paper.”The U.S. president also confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that he would consider resuming the fighting if Iran killed American soldiers. Asked about it directly, he replied: “Well, yes, that would give a good reason. If they killed American soldiers, I think I would do it very quickly.”In speaking with the Journal, U.S. officials questioned the feasibility of a long-term cease-fire, given the frequent exchanges of fire in the Gulf, and said the repeated attacks had increased pressure on Trump.Against the backdrop of Trump’s remarks about a possible agreement, CNN reported Thursday night that one of the main remaining points of dispute concerns the compensation funds Iran is demanding. A U.S. official said Trump is determined to secure a deal that would be seen as better than the agreement signed with Iran under former President Barack Obama.According to the report, Iran has told mediators it wants frozen funds released as soon as the sides sign an initial memorandum of understanding, already in the first stage of the agreement, and is not willing to postpone or delay the matter. The Trump administration, however, is concerned that any early release of funds could damage Washington’s main source of leverage over Tehran.