In a phone call with President Trump this week, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed moving Iran's enriched uranium to Russia as part of a deal to end the war.
- Trump turned him down, sources tell Axios.
Why it matters: Securing Iran's 450 kilograms of 60%-enriched uranium — convertible to weapons grade within weeks, and enough for more than 10 nuclear bombs — is one of the U.S. and Israel's key war objectives.
- In theory, Putin's offer could help facilitate the removal of Iran's nuclear stockpile without U.S. or Israeli boots on the ground.
- Russia is already a nuclear power and previously stored Iran's low-enriched uranium under the 2015 nuclear deal, making it one of the few countries with the technical capacity to accept the material.
Behind the scenes: Putin raised several ideas for ending the war between the U.S. and Iran in his call with Trump on Monday. The uranium proposal was one of them.
- "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 U.S. official told Axios.
- Russia raised similar proposals during U.S.-Iran nuclear negotiations last May — before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran's nuclear facilities in June — and in the weeks before the current war began.
Between the lines: In the last round of talks before the war, Iran rejected the transfer idea and proposed diluting the uranium inside its own facilities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
- It's not clear whether Iran would accept the proposal now.
What they're saying: "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," the U.S. official said.
The intrigue: The U.S. and Israel have discussed sending special forces into Iran to secure the nuclear stockpile at a later stage of the war, as Axios previously reported.
- Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at a press conference Friday that the U.S. "has a range of options" to take control of Iran's highly enriched uranium.
- Hegseth said one option is Iran voluntarily surrendering the stockpile, which the U.S. "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.
In an interview on Fox News Radio, Trump suggested that securing the highly enriched uranium is not currently a top priority: "We are not focused on that, but at some point we might be," he said.
The big picture: Trump acknowledged for the first time that Russia is aiding Iran in the war, following days of reports about Moscow providing intelligence to target U.S. forces.
- "I think [Putin] might be helping them a little bit, yeah. And he probably thinks we're helping Ukraine, right?" Trump said in the Fox interview.
- "So he says that, and China would say the same thing. It's like, hey, they do it and we do it, in all fairness."
