Putin proposes taking Iran’s uranium: Trump’s answer emerges

According to the article, during Monday’s conversation with Trump, Putin raised several ideas for ending the war between the US and Iran. The proposal to transport the uranium was one of them, but the American leader rejected the idea.

“This is not the first time it was offered. It hasn't been accepted. The U.S. position is we need to see the uranium secured,” a US official said.

The Axios clarifies that the proposal concerned the transfer of 450 kg of uranium enriched to 60%. As is known, it can be processed into weapons-grade uranium within a few weeks, and that amount would be enough to produce more than 10 nuclear bombs.

Regarding the claim that the transfer proposal had been made more than once, Axios provides the following details. According to the outlet, Russia put forward a similar proposal during US–Iran nuclear negotiations in May 2025 - that is, before the US and Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities in June. A similar proposal was also reportedly made several weeks before the start of the current war.

What options are on the table?

Axios noted that during the final round of talks before the war, Iran rejected the proposal to transfer its uranium abroad and instead suggested diluting it domestically under the monitoring of the International Atomic Energy Agency. It is unclear whether Tehran would still consider such an arrangement now.

“The president talks to everyone — Xi, Putin, the Europeans — and he's always willing to make a deal. But it has to be a good deal. The president doesn't make bad deals,” a US official said.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that Washington has a range of options to secure control over Iran’s highly enriched uranium. One possibility, he said, would be a voluntary handover of the stockpile by Iran, a move the US would welcome.

“They weren't willing to do that in negotiations. I would never tell this group or the world what we're willing to do or how far we're willing to go — but we have options, for sure,” he added.

Axios also recalled its recent report that the US and Israel had discussed deploying special forces to Iran to secure the country’s nuclear assets later in the conflict.

Iran’s nuclear program

A few days ago, Donald Trump was asked to comment on reports that the US is considering an operation to remove highly enriched uranium from an underground facility in Isfahan.

The US president, for his part, said that Washington, D.C. has not made any decision regarding the possible deployment of special forces to seize Iran’s nuclear stockpiles.

Meanwhile, Axios recently reported that, according to Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff — who spoke at a private meeting — any agreement with Iran must indefinitely restrict Tehran’s nuclear program.