Tehran and Washington are truly not just back to square one, but it's as if no rounds of dialogue - direct or indirect - have even taken place. It's more like being back at square zero - and the US President has just acknowledged it.
President Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One Friday while departing Beijing that even the very first first sentence of Iran's latest proposal was "unacceptable" and blamed the Iranians for backtracking on the nuclear issue.
The first sentence was an “unacceptable sentence, because they have fully agreed no nuclear, and if they have any nuclear of any form, I don’t read the rest,” he said, stressing that he remains unsatisfied with the "level of guarantee from them."
Trump's remarks center on his allegation that Iran agreed to give up its "nuclear dust" but then quickly “then they took it back" - but then stated his view that Tehran will eventually agree to it anyway.
"I looked at it, and I don't like the first sentence. I just throw it away," Trump said.
He once again in the comments called for Iran to completely abandon any nuclear capability, insisting there can be "no nuclear of any form." He described: "You've got to get all the fuel out and no more production. You have to get everything."
Trump has said China's President Xi Jinping is in full agreement that Iran should not have a nuclear weapon:
According to Trump, Iranian representatives acknowledged only the United States and possibly China possess the specialized equipment necessary to remove radioactive debris from the damaged sites.
"They said the only one that can remove it is China or the U.S.," Trump said. "They said you were right. It is a complete obliteration."
The president has said the nuclear material is now "entombed" under ground after nuclear sites were "obliterated" - from bombing operations last June and this latest round of US-Israeli attacks in February through March and early April.
Also this week while in China Trump told Fox News in an interview that he did not underestimate the situation in Iran, despite the constantly shifting and expanding timeline and stated goals within the early weeks of Operation Epic Fury.
TRUMP TO FOX: DIDN'T UNDERESTIMATE ANYTHING ON IRAN
Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Friday that the topic of uranium enrichment "is currently not on the agenda of discussions or negotiations," but will be addressed in later stages, as cited in Tasnim.
On China and whether President Xi agreed to commit to pressuring the Iranians to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Trump said Friday "we don’t need favors" but that "we may have to do a little cleanup work."
"We had a little month-long ceasefire, I guess you’d call it, but we have a blockade that’s so effective, that’s why we did the ceasefire," he said, after suggesting that the conflict with Iran could continue.