Trump Says U.S. Will Not Allow Iran to Retain Enriched Uranium Stockpile

He told reporters at the White House on Thursday that the material would be taken and likely destroyed. Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a directive the same day prohibiting removal of the stockpile, Reuters reported, citing two unnamed senior Iranian sources. The estimated 440 kilograms of material is the main unresolved issue in current U.S.-Iran negotiations.

Iran increased enrichment from the 3.67 percent limit set in the 2015 nuclear agreement after the United States withdrew in 2018 and after the 2021 bombing of the Natanz facility. The country now holds the material mostly as uranium hexafluoride gas stored in small cylinders underground at damaged sites.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi stated in March that the current quantity, if further enriched to 90 percent, would be sufficient for more than 10 nuclear warheads. Iran maintains its program is for civilian purposes.

Araghchi said this month that the two sides had reached a deadlock on the uranium issue and that discussion had been postponed. Reuters also reported that Trump assured Israel the stockpile would leave Iran under any agreement. Nuclear engineering professor Muhammad Sahimi said the most likely outcome is monitored down-blending of the material to 3-4 percent enrichment inside Iran.

He added that transfer to another country could be conducted safely under IAEA protocols using type 30B steel cylinders.