PANews reported on April 8 that U.S. Defense Secretary Hergses stated that the U.S. position on the Iranian nuclear issue is "always non-negotiable," emphasizing that Iran must never possess nuclear weapons or related capabilities. He stated that Iran's highly enriched uranium is currently buried and under U.S. monitoring, and in the future, it will either be handed over voluntarily by Iran, or the U.S. will take action to remove it.