Mojtaba Khamenei Orders Iran To Keep Highly Enriched Uranium, Defying Trump

Two senior Iranian sources told Reuters that Iran’s supreme leader issued a directive ordering that near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, hardening Tehran’s stance on a main US demand at peace talks.

“Amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, the stockpile of highly enriched uranium stands out as the most complex political and military file on the path to ending the conflict, and the most sensitive bargaining point among the parties”

Al-Jazeera Net

The directive could further frustrate US President Donald Trump and complicate talks on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and was followed by Iran firing at Gulf states hosting US military bases.

Al-Jazeera Net

Israeli officials told Reuters that Trump has assured Israel that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium will be sent out of Iran and that any peace deal must include a clause on this, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will not consider the war over until enriched uranium is removed from Iran.

The Times of Israel also reported that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s order reflects a view that sending the material abroad would leave Iran more vulnerable to future attacks by the United States and Israel, and that the White House and Iran’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.

Trump told reporters at the White House, “We will get it. We don't need it, we don't want it. We'll probably destroy it after we get it, but we're not going to let them have it,” as Iran weighs the latest US proposal for a possible deal to end the nearly three-month war.

Two senior Iranian sources told Reuters that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei issued a directive barring the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium from being sent abroad, while Iranian state media reported that the government is reviewing the American offer.

The Jerusalem Post

The uranium issue remains a sensitive obstacle because Washington wants to ensure Iran cannot use its enriched material for a nuclear weapon, while Tehran has rejected demands that the stockpile be removed from the country, according to ynetnews.

The US also signaled it could wait for Iran’s response, with Trump telling CBS News he was willing to wait “a couple of days” for an Iranian answer, adding that “we have to get the right answers” to prevent a return to war.

The IAEA estimates that Iran had 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to 60% when Israel and the US attacked Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025, and Reuters reporting cited by multiple outlets says how much survived is unclear.

“Iran's Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country's near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, two senior Iranian sources said, hardening Tehran's stance on one of the main US demands at peace talks”

The Jerusalem Post

The Times of Israel said IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told in March that what remained of that stock was “mainly” stored in a tunnel complex in its Isfahan nuclear facility, and that his agency believed slightly more than 200 kg of it was there.

In parallel, the Al-Jazeera Net report framed the uranium file as the most sensitive bargaining point and described Western diplomatic and military circles studying options ranging from diplomatic settlements to a “complex ground intervention” to extract the uranium from deep inside Iranian nuclear facilities.

It also cited a CSIS study warning that a sudden collapse of the Iranian regime could scatter these materials and put them in the hands of non-state actors or regional allies, while Reuters reporting described “feasible formulas” such as diluting the stockpile under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.