Iran’s Supreme Leader has reportedly ordered that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium stockpile must not be sent overseas, in a move expected to further inflame tensions with the United States and Israel amid fragile peace negotiations.
According to two senior Iranian sources, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued the directive as Tehran hardens its stance against one of Washington’s key demands during ongoing diplomatic talks.
The decision is likely to frustrate US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly insisted that Iran must surrender its highly enriched uranium stockpile as part of any future peace agreement.
Speaking at the White House on Thursday, Trump vowed the United States would never allow Iran to retain the material.
“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,” he told reporters.
Israeli officials have also reportedly received assurances from Trump that any final agreement would require Iran’s enriched uranium to be removed from the country.
Western governments, including Israel and the United States, have long accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons capabilities. Much of the concern centres on Tehran enriching uranium to 60 per cent purity — a level far beyond civilian energy requirements and much closer to the 90 per cent needed for nuclear weapons production.
Iran has consistently denied seeking nuclear weapons and insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful and civilian purposes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has declared that Israel will not consider the conflict resolved until Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile is removed, its ballistic missile capabilities dismantled and its support for proxy militias ended.
One Iranian source claimed there is now broad agreement within Iran’s leadership that the uranium stockpile should remain inside the country at all costs.
“The Supreme Leader’s directive, and the consensus within the establishment, is that the stockpile of enriched uranium should not leave the country,” the source reportedly said.
Iranian officials allegedly fear that surrendering the material would leave the country vulnerable to future military attacks from both Israel and the United States.
Although a fragile ceasefire remains in place following months of conflict involving US-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets and retaliatory attacks by Iran and its allies, peace negotiations remain stalled.
Tensions reportedly worsened after Iran accused Washington of using the temporary pause in fighting as a tactic before launching possible future airstrikes.
Iran’s top peace negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, warned this week that both “obvious and hidden moves” by enemies suggested preparations for renewed attacks were ongoing.
Trump meanwhile warned that the United States remains prepared to launch further military action against Tehran if no peace deal is reached, although he hinted Washington may wait several days before making its next move.
Before the conflict escalated, Iran had reportedly shown willingness to export half of its uranium enriched to 60 per cent purity. However, that position is said to have changed after repeated threats of military strikes from Trump.
Despite the hardened stance, Iranian sources indicated there could still be alternative solutions under international supervision.
One proposed option involves diluting the uranium stockpile under monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency instead of transferring it abroad.
According to the IAEA, Iran possessed approximately 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 per cent before Israeli and American strikes targeted Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025.
However, the exact amount that survived the attacks remains unclear.
IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi previously said much of the remaining stockpile was believed to be stored within underground tunnel complexes at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear facility, while additional quantities may still be located at the Natanz enrichment site.
Iran maintains that part of its enriched uranium is needed for medical purposes and to operate a research reactor in Tehran that uses uranium enriched to around 20 per cent.
