Iran's enriched uranium stockpile: Can it be safely transferred?

Iran is believed to hold about 440 kg of uranium enriched to 60 percent, a key issue in US-Iran peace negotiations. The United States says it will not allow Iran to keep its highly enriched uranium stockpile. Iran’s supreme leader has issued a directive prohibiting removal of the enriched uranium from the country, reflecting a consensus that the stockpile should not leave Iran. Uranium enriched to 60 percent is still below weapons-grade levels but is closer to the threshold where reaching 90 percent becomes faster. Israel-linked reporting also indicates US assurances that a peace deal would include provisions for sending the stockpile out of Iran, while Iran maintains its civilian-only nuclear stance.

"Reports say Khamenei issued a directive that Iran's enriched uranium should not be sent abroad. United States President Donald Trump reiterated on Thursday that the US will not permit Iran to keep its stockpile of highly enriched uranium. However, Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, has issued a directive that Iran's enriched uranium should not be sent abroad, the Reuters news agency reported on Thursday, citing two unnamed senior Iranian sources."

"The future of the estimated 440kg (970lb) of uranium enriched to 60 percent that Iran is believed to be holding remains a chief sticking point in peace negotiations between the US and Iran. While uranium enriched to 60 percent is still far short of the 90 percent required for weapons-grade material, it is the point at which it becomes much quicker to reach 90 percent, nuclear experts say."

"“We will get it. We don't need it, we don't want it. We'll probably destroy it after we get it, but we're not going to let them have it,” Trump said about Iran's enriched uranium stockpile when he spoke to reporters at the White House on Thursday. However, the same day, Reuters reported that Iran's supreme leader had issued a directive prohibiting the removal of the uranium."

"The Supreme Leader's directive, and the consensus within the establishment, is that the stockpile of enriched uranium should not leave the country, Reuters reported, quoting one of the two Iranian sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. Tehran has said for years that its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes only and that it does not intend to build nuclear weap"

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