Supreme Leader orders Iran enriched uranium to stay in country

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has ordered that the country's stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium must remain inside Iran, according to two senior Iranian sources who spoke to Reuters. The directive represents a significant hardening of Tehran's position and could further complicate ongoing peace negotiations aimed at ending the US-Israeli war on Iran that began with strikes on February 28. Israeli officials have said US President Donald Trump assured them that any peace agreement would require Iran to remove its enriched uranium stockpile from the country, making this one of Washington's key demands in the talks. Iranian officials believe exporting the uranium would leave the country vulnerable to future attacks by the United States and Israel, the sources said. Despite mediation efforts led by Pakistan, negotiations have made little progress as a US blockade of Iranian ports and Tehran's control over the Strait of Hormuz continue to complicate diplomacy. There is deep suspicion within Tehran's leadership that the current ceasefire is a tactical pause by Washington before launching fresh airstrikes. Iran's top peace negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, said "obvious and hidden moves by the enemy" indicated the United States was preparing new attacks, while Trump warned the US was prepared to launch further strikes if Iran refused a peace deal. The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates Iran possessed 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent when Israeli and US forces attacked Iranian nuclear facilities in June 2025. Most of the surviving stockpile is believed to be stored in tunnels at the Isfahan nuclear facility, with some material also believed to remain at the Natanz enrichment complex. Iran has maintained that part of its highly enriched uranium programme is intended for medical applications and a Tehran-based research reactor. Israel, the United States and several Western nations have long accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons capability, particularly after Tehran enriched uranium to 60 percent, a level much higher than civilian requirements and closer to weapons-grade enrichment. Iran has consistently denied seeking nuclear weapons, and one Iranian source suggested possible compromises remain, including diluting the stockpile under IAEA supervision. Oil prices jumped on the news, with US crude rising 2.4 percent to $100.57 per barrel and Brent crude advancing nearly 2 percent to $107.05 per barrel.