President Donald Trump said Monday he could accept the disposal of Iran's high-enriched uranium either inside Iran or in a third country [1].
This development signals a potential shift in the U.S. approach to preventing Iran from achieving nuclear weapons capability. By allowing the material to be moved or destroyed outside Iranian borders, the administration seeks a concrete way to eliminate the threat of a nuclear-armed Tehran.
Trump said that U.S. nuclear regulators must be present during the process to ensure the material is properly handled. The focus of the effort is the 440 kg [1] of high-enriched uranium currently possessed by Iran. Trump said, "I will consider disposing of Iran's enriched uranium in Iran or a third country" [1].
The statement was delivered from Washington and posted on Truth Social. During a Memorial Day speech, Trump said, "Iran will never have a nuclear weapon" [1].
Despite the openness to disposal, the path to an agreement remains unclear. Some reports indicate that Trump has found Iran's own responses to dilution proposals to be "completely unacceptable" [2]. This suggests a gap between the U.S. requirement for oversight, and Iran's willingness to comply with those terms.
Conflicting accounts persist regarding the current state of negotiations. Some sources suggest the U.S. and Iran are nearing a breakthrough on the disposal option, while others report that both nations have rejected each other's recent proposals regarding the halt of enrichment, and the removal of uranium [3].
Trump's willingness to utilize a third country as a disposal site provides a diplomatic alternative to direct confrontation. However, the requirement for U.S. regulators to oversee the process remains a primary point of contention in the ongoing standoff [1].
“"Iran will never have a nuclear weapon."”
The proposal to move enriched uranium to a third country represents a tactical flexibility in the U.S. strategy. By shifting the location of the material, the U.S. can potentially bypass the security risks of on-site disposal in Iran while maintaining strict verification. However, the lack of consensus on the terms of oversight suggests that while the destination of the uranium is a point of negotiation, the level of American control over the process remains a significant hurdle.
