By Tom Ozimek
Contributing Writer
U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday laid out three possible paths for dealing with Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, after insisting that Tehran will not be allowed to retain a pathway to a nuclear weapon as negotiations continue over a broader peace deal.
“The enriched uranium (nuclear dust!) will either be immediately turned over to the United States to be brought home and destroyed or, preferably, in conjunction and coordination with the Islamic Republic of Iran, destroyed in place or, at another acceptable location,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
He added that the destruction process would occur with the “Atomic Energy Commission, or its equivalent, being witness to this process and event.”
The status of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile has emerged as one of the most contentious issues in negotiations aimed at diplomatically resolving the tense standoff between Iran on one side, and the United States and Israel on the other, and bringing the war to an end.
The U.S. president’s remarks appeared to outline three scenarios that Washington would find acceptable as it seeks to address the nuclear issue: transferring the uranium to the United States for destruction, eliminating it inside Iran under international supervision, or destroying it at a mutually agreed third location.
Trump has repeatedly said Iran cannot be permitted to acquire a nuclear weapon. Tehran has long maintained that its nuclear program is intended solely for peaceful purposes, although U.S. and Israeli officials dispute those claims. The International Atomic Energy Agency has also said it could not verify the peaceful nature of Iran’s program.
The United States hit a series of sites linked to Iran’s nuclear program in 2025 in what’s known as Operation Midnight Hammer. The campaign left Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium buried deep underground, with Trump repeatedly saying that the material should be excavated and secured so that Tehran can’t use it to fashion a nuclear weapon.
Nuclear Material at Center of Talks
The fate of Iran’s uranium stockpile — estimated by some U.S. officials at roughly 900 pounds of highly enriched material — has become central to discussions over any long-term settlement.
Trump told reporters last week that the United States may need to enter Iran to retrieve the buried uranium, which he suggested would then be destroyed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made similar remarks, saying that he views eliminating Iran’s “nuclear danger” as tantamount to removing the enriched material from its territory.
Officials in Tehran have sought to keep the uranium, insisting that it would only be used for peaceful purposes as part of a civilian nuclear program.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said over the weekend that Tehran was prepared to demonstrate “we do not seek nuclear weapons.”
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei told a May 25 press briefing that the focus of the current negotiations with the United States is on “ending the war” and that, “at this stage, we are not discussing the details of the nuclear issue.”
Moscow has expressed willingness to take Iran’s enriched uranium for safekeeping. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters last week that Russia, which has a vast nuclear program, is prepared to hold onto the stockpile, with Peskov urging Tehran and Washington to discuss this proposal, Russia’s state-owned TASS news agency reported.
Trump’s latest remarks suggest he is opposed to any transfer of the material to a third country for storage, insisting that it must be destroyed.
There was no immediate response by Iran to Trump’s statement.
Earlier, a senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader warned that Tehran could withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty if attacks resume, hinting that renewed U.S.-Israeli strikes could send Iran down the path of seeking nuclear arms.
