President Donald Trump has made clear the U.S. opposes any plan that would let Russia or China take control of Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile, as Washington and Tehran navigate fragile nuclear negotiations in 2026.
The position came into focus after the Kremlin said the U.S. had rejected a Russian proposal to remove Iran’s enriched uranium to Russian territory. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Indian outlet India Today that “Russia was prepared to accept Iran’s enriched uranium on its territory,” but “the American side rejected this proposal”. U.S. officials told Axios that the U.S. position is “we need to see the uranium secured”, ruling out transfer to Moscow.
Trump himself has repeatedly stated the U.S. intends to handle the material directly. In a phone interview with Reuters, he said, “We’re going to get it together. We’re going to go in with Iran, at a nice leisurely pace, and go down and start excavating with big machinery… We’ll bring it back to the United States”. He referred to the material as “nuclear dust” remaining after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025. Iran is believed to hold more than 900 pounds of uranium enriched up to 60% purity.
The issue has become a flashpoint in broader U.S.-Russia-China rivalry. At the UN Security Council, U.S. envoy Mike Waltz accused Moscow and Beijing of trying to protect Tehran by blocking enforcement of Iran sanctions. He said both countries “do not want a functional sanctions committee because they want to protect their partner, Iran, and continue to maintain defense cooperation”.
The post circulating from BRICS-focused accounts frames the dispute as a contest among major powers over nuclear assets and influence, pairing portraits of Trump, Xi Jinping, and Putin. That framing reflects real tensions: China and Russia have deepened ties with Iran since 2022, signing strategic cooperation agreements and holding joint naval drills. Beijing hosted trilateral talks with Moscow and Tehran on the nuclear issue in early 2026….See More
