"Iran was on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons"

He emphasized that U.S. President Donald Trump is always ready for negotiations, but only if Tehran shows a genuine intention to reach a diplomatic agreement.

In an interview for CNBC, Witkoff said that earlier talks with Iranian officials showed that Tehran was not ready to compromise.

According to him, the Iranian side insisted during the talks on its “inalienable right” to enrich uranium and confirmed the existence of significant stockpiles of material enriched to 60 percent.

“They had around 460 kilograms of material enriched to 60 percent, which has no purpose other than the development of nuclear weapons,” Witkoff said, adding that such material could relatively quickly be further enriched to a level suitable for producing a nuclear bomb.

Witkoff stressed that Trump remains open to a diplomatic solution, but that there are currently no indications that the Iranian leadership wants negotiations.

Speaking about the war in the Middle East, he assessed that Iran, through its actions, has further destabilized the region and encouraged closer cooperation among other countries.

Witkoff also said that Russian officials, during talks with Trump, denied sharing intelligence with Iran during the conflict.

“We can take them at their word. Let’s hope they won’t share it. Yesterday, during the call, the Russians said they had not shared information,” Witkoff told CNBC. Trump on Friday criticized a reporter for asking about Russia’s alleged assistance to Iran, calling the question “stupid,” while on Monday he said that Vladimir Putin had been “very impressed” during their conversation with the progress the United States had made in the war.