Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has issued a directive banning the export of highly enriched uranium outside the country. This was reported to Reuters by two high-ranking Iranian sources.
According to one of the agency’s interlocutors, “the supreme leader’s directive and the consensus within the establishment is that stocks of enriched uranium should not leave the country.” Tehran fears that transferring uranium would make Iran more vulnerable to possible US and Israeli attacks.
Al Jazeera journalist Ali Hashim later wrote, citing an Iranian government source, that Khamenei had not signed such a document.
The interlocutor called the Reuters report “propaganda by opponents of the peace agreement” and emphasised that Iran’s position remains unchanged: Tehran is ready to independently dilute part of its uranium reserves under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The US is demanding that Iran give up highly enriched uranium as part of a possible nuclear agreement. Washington and Israel insist on either removing the material completely from the country or placing it under international control.
According to the IAEA, Iran has about 440 kilogrammes of uranium enriched to 60%. This is theoretically enough to build several nuclear charges with further enrichment.