© Getty Images Putin gave assurances of uranium oversight.
During a telephone conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump this week, Russian leader Vladimir Putin suggested transferring Iran’s store of enriched uranium to Russia as part of a potential agreement to cease hostilities. Trump declined the proposition, sources informed Axios.
Oversight of Iran’s 450 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% is a central aim of the U.S. and Israel in the conflict. Such uranium could be transformed into weapons-grade material in mere weeks and would suffice for exceeding ten nuclear warheads.
Hypothetically, Putin’s proposition could facilitate the removal of Iranian nuclear material without the need for American or Israeli soldiers to enter Iranian soil.
Russia is already a nuclear-armed nation and had previously housed Iranian low-enriched uranium under the 2015 nuclear accord, making it one of the select few nations possessing the technological capability to handle such material.
Sources indicate that during his discussion with Trump on Monday, Putin presented numerous concepts for concluding the conflict between the U.S. and Iran, with the uranium transfer to Russia being one of them.
“This concept isn’t new. It hasn’t been approved. The US stance is that we must ensure the uranium remains regulated,” commented a U.S. official.
Russia had introduced similar ideas during U.S.-Iranian nuclear discussions last May, prior to the U.S. and Israel targeting Iranian nuclear sites in June.
These ideas were also deliberated upon in the weeks preceding the commencement of the current conflict.
During the most recent negotiations before the war, Iran dismissed the concept of shipping uranium abroad. Instead, Tehran suggested enriching uranium within its borders under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It remains uncertain, however, whether Iran would consent to such a proposition now.
An American official stated: “The president engages with everyone — Xi Jinping, Putin, the Europeans — and he’s always willing to strike a bargain. But it must be a favorable one. The president doesn’t make disadvantageous deals.”
The U.S. and Israel have also entertained the notion of deploying special forces into Iran to assume control of its enriched uranium reserves at a later phase of the conflict.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth remarked at a press conference on Friday that the United States possesses “various avenues” to take possession of Iran’s highly enriched uranium. One possibility, he noted, is for Iran to willingly relinquish the stockpile, which Washington would “welcome.”
Concurrently, in a conversation with Fox News Radio, Trump implied that uranium regulation is not a primary concern at this moment.
“We’re not prioritizing that right now, but perhaps at some juncture,” he stated.
It is worth noting that Trump also acknowledged, for the first time, that Russia is, to some degree, aiding Iran in the conflict, following repeated reports of Moscow sharing intelligence that could facilitate attacks on American troops.