US President Donald Trump refused to support the initiative of Russian leader Vladimir Putin to export 450 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% from Iran. The proposal was voiced during a phone conversation between the leaders on March 9, reports the DW portal citing media.
According to sources, Putin proposed several options to reduce tensions in the context of the war between the US, Israel, and Iran. One of them was the idea of sending Iranian highly enriched uranium to be stored in Russia. Experts note that uranium with a 60% enrichment level could potentially be brought to weapon-grade levels (around 90%) in just a few weeks. Meanwhile, the 450 kilograms currently held by Iran is enough to produce more than ten nuclear warheads.
One of the American officials told the Axios portal that such an initiative had been discussed before, but Washington did not support it. According to him, the position of the USA is based on the necessity of complete confidence in the safe storage of nuclear materials. Previously, Russia had already proposed a similar option during the American-Iranian negotiations in May 2025 — shortly before the strikes by the USA and Israel on Iranian nuclear facilities in June of the same year and a few weeks before the start of the Middle Eastern conflict on February 28, 2026.
According to sources, Trump is discussing the situation around the Iranian nuclear program not only with Putin but also with Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as with European leaders.
Iran's position in negotiations
As Axios writes, in the latest round of negotiations with the USA before the start of the war, Iran refused to voluntarily transfer its uranium stockpiles. Tehran proposed an alternative — to dilute already enriched uranium at its own facilities under the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency. Moreover, according to The Wall Street Journal, Iran considered the possibility of transferring some of its stockpiles to Russia. However, such options did not satisfy Washington.
Earlier, the Axios portal reported that the USA and Israel discussed the possibility of sending special forces to Iran to ensure the security of nuclear materials at a later stage of the conflict. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that Washington has 'several options' for establishing control over highly enriched uranium, although the USA would prefer its voluntary transfer.
Experience of the 2015 agreement
Russia had already stored Iranian enriched uranium as part of the international deal on Tehran's nuclear program. In 2015, Iran and six world powers — the United Kingdom, China, Russia, the USA, France, and Germany — concluded an agreement called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
The document provided for the reduction of Iran's stockpiles of enriched uranium and the admission of IAEA inspectors in exchange for the gradual lifting of sanctions. At that time, Russia received more than 11 tons of Iranian uranium, passing about 140 tons of uranium ore to Tehran.
However, in 2018, Donald Trump, who served as President of the USA in his first term, announced Washington's withdrawal from the agreement made under his predecessor Barack Obama, stating that the USA has evidence of Iran's continued development of nuclear weapons.