Tankers burn in Hormuz as Iran vows enriched uranium will never leave

Tensions around Iran remained high Wednesday as Iranian forces reported fresh incidents involving oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz while senior officials in Tehran hardened their position on the country’s enriched uranium stockpile and warned Washington against renewed military action.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy said two oil tankers struck mines while sailing through what it described as an unsafe route in the Strait of Hormuz. According to the Iranian statement, both vessels caught fire and their crews abandoned ship.

Iranian authorities released footage showing a tanker apparently damaged at sea, with flames and thick smoke rising from the water. The Iranian military said it was monitoring the area east of the strait and maintained that safe passage through the strategic waterway required coordination with Iranian forces and compliance with its maritime regulations.

The claims came as Tehran continued issuing warnings to the United States and Israel. Iran’s military chief, Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi, said previous Iranian strikes were “only the beginning” and warned that another “miscalculation” would bring more destructive attacks. He said the threat was based on capabilities already available to Iran’s armed forces.

‘Not a single particle will leave’

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei, meanwhile, ruled out transferring the country’s enriched nuclear material abroad as part of any future agreement.

“Not a single particle of enriched nuclear material will leave Iran,” Rezaei told Lebanon’s Al Mayadeen television. He said Tehran intended to retain the material for its own purposes, including plans for nuclear-powered ships and submarines.

Rezaei, who visited Moscow last week and met Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin, said Iran had made its position clear to Russia.

“We have informed our Russian friends that the enriched nuclear material will remain in Iran and that we will use it ourselves,” he said.

Rezaei also warned that any new U.S. attack on Iran would be answered with strikes against American military bases, including installations farther from Iran. He said ending fighting across what Tehran calls West Asia, particularly in Lebanon, remained among Iran’s conditions for resolving the wider confrontation.

His remarks directly challenge one potential element of diplomatic efforts surrounding Iran’s nuclear program. Russia has previously been discussed as a possible destination for Iranian enriched uranium under a future arrangement aimed at limiting Tehran’s nuclear capabilities.

The fate of Iran’s enriched uranium remains one of the unresolved issues following the prolonged U.S.-Israeli campaign. Israeli and other Western intelligence assessments cited by ynet estimate the stockpile at about 450 kilograms and say its location is being monitored. Israel maintains that the material must ultimately be addressed through an agreement or another course of action.

Pezeshkian attacks US ‘Mother of All Bombs’ threat

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian also accused Washington of using military threats to advance diplomacy, after reports that the United States was considering the possible use of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the “Mother of All Bombs,” if major fighting resumed.

“They launched a war claiming they wanted to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons,” Pezeshkian wrote on X. “Then they used the PrSM missile in Lamerd for the first time. Now they pull out the Mother of All Bombs to advance diplomacy through threats. Who is really threatening global peace and security?”

Pezeshkian made the comments before traveling to Turkey for the COP31 climate summit, where he said Iran would raise the environmental damage caused by the war. He said the gathering would also provide an opportunity for talks with other world leaders.

Iranian authorities separately announced the arrest of five people accused of belonging to a cell that allegedly cooperated with U.S. and Israeli intelligence and planned attacks in Tehran, Alborz and Kermanshah provinces. Iranian officials also alleged that members of the group had participated in protests earlier this year.

Iran still rebuilding missile arsenal

The warnings come as Western intelligence assessments indicate Iran retains a substantial ballistic missile arsenal despite months of strikes on its military infrastructure.

Bloomberg reported that Iran is currently capable of producing about 50 ballistic missiles a month, roughly half its prewar rate. Western intelligence officials estimate that Tehran still possesses at least 1,700 ballistic missiles and continues working to replenish its stockpile.

Western intelligence officials also believe Russia is providing Iran with offensive weapons, although the quantities and types of weapons involved remain unclear.

Divisions in Washington

The developments come as President Donald Trump weighs whether to continue pursuing diplomacy or resume large-scale military operations against Iran. Trump said this week that he currently sees little need for another major round of strikes and described the military phase of the conflict as effectively over for now, while leaving open the possibility of future action.

An Israeli official familiar with the debate told ynet that sharp disagreements remain among Trump’s advisers. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Central Command chief Adm. Brad Cooper have favored renewed military pressure, while Vice President JD Vance, envoy Steve Witkoff and adviser Jared Kushner have pushed for a diplomatic route.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has argued for intensifying economic pressure on Iran instead, while Secretary of State Marco Rubio has presented Trump with the competing options. Recent U.S. reporting has similarly described a three-way debate inside the administration between renewed military action, a negotiated settlement and continued economic pressure.

For now, Trump has allowed diplomatic contacts to continue. But with Iran refusing to send its enriched uranium abroad, its missile production continuing and incidents in the Strait of Hormuz threatening one of the world’s most important shipping routes, the central disputes that fueled the conflict remain unresolved.