DUBAI: Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, two senior Iranian sources said, hardening Tehran’s stance on one of the main United States demands at peace talks.
Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s order could further frustrate US President Donald Trump and complicate talks on ending the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Israeli officials have told Reuters that Trump has assured Israel that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, needed to make an atomic weapon, will be sent out of Iran and that any peace deal must include a clause on this.
Israel, the US and other Western states have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, including pointing to its move to enrich uranium to 60 per cent, far higher than needed for civilian uses and closer to the 90 per cent needed for a weapon. Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not consider the war over until enriched uranium is removed from Iran, Tehran ends its support for proxy militias, and its ballistic missile capabilities are eliminated.
“The Supreme Leader’s directive, and the consensus within the establishment, is that the stockpile of enriched uranium should not leave the country,” said one of the two Iranian sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Iran’s top officials, the sources said, believe that sending the material abroad would leave the country more vulnerable to future attacks by the US and Israel. Khamenei has the last say on the most important state matters.
The White House and Iran’s foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
DEEP SUSPICION AMONG TOP IRANIAN OFFICIALS
A shaky ceasefire is in place in the war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb 28, after which Iran fired at Gulf states hosting US military bases and fighting broke out between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.
But there has been no big breakthrough in peace efforts, with a US blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global oil supply route, complicating negotiations mediated by Pakistan.
The two senior Iranian sources said there was deep suspicion in Iran that the pause in hostilities was a tactical deception by Washington to create a sense of security before it renews airstrikes.
Iran’s top peace negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said on Wednesday that “obvious and hidden moves by the enemy” showed the Americans were preparing new attacks.
Trump said on Wednesday the US was ready to proceed with further attacks on Tehran if Iran did not agree to a peace deal, but suggested Washington could wait a few days to “get the right answers”.
The two sides have started to narrow some gaps, the sources said, but deeper splits remain over Tehran’s nuclear programme – including the fate of its enriched uranium stockpiles and Tehran’s demand for recognition of its right to enrichment.