Benjamin Netanyahu has drawn a hard line on the war with Iran, saying the conflict will continue as long as Tehran retains highly enriched uranium and operating enrichment sites.

In an excerpt from an interview with CBS's 60 Minutes, published before broadcast, the Israeli prime minister said the war is “not over” because nuclear material still must be removed from Iran and key facilities still must be dismantled. His comments land at a volatile moment, with reports indicating a ceasefire has come under strain even as diplomacy still moves in the background.

“It’s not over, because there’s still nuclear material – enriched uranium – that has to be taken out of Iran.”

Iran, meanwhile, says it has responded to a US peace proposal. That response suggests negotiations have not collapsed, but it also underscores how far apart the core positions may remain. Israel has framed Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium as an immediate security threat, while the broader diplomatic track appears to focus on whether fighting can stop before the dispute over nuclear capabilities is resolved.

Key Facts

  • Netanyahu said the war will continue while Iran still holds highly enriched uranium.
  • He also said enrichment sites inside Iran must be dismantled.
  • Iran says it has responded to a US peace proposal.
  • Reports indicate the ceasefire has come under strain.

The reference in the wider news signal to Donald Trump wanting to “go in” to Iran to secure nuclear material adds another layer of pressure around the crisis, though the available source excerpt centers on Netanyahu’s remarks and does not provide further detail on any such plan. What is clear is the underlying dispute: any pause in fighting may prove fragile if the fate of Iran’s nuclear material remains unsettled.

What happens next will turn on two tracks moving at once: military pressure and diplomatic bargaining. If ceasefire efforts weaken further, the region could slide back toward open confrontation; if talks gain traction, negotiators will still face the far harder question of who controls, removes, or dismantles Iran’s nuclear assets. That question now sits at the center of the conflict — and at the center of what comes next.