Iran’s Foreign Ministry flatly denied that the country agreed to transfer its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, directly contradicting a claim made by US President Donald Trump. The denial came within hours of Trump’s assertion that a deal was in place, turning what briefly looked like a diplomatic breakthrough into another chapter of US-Iran discord.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei left zero room for interpretation, stating that the enriched uranium would “not be transferred anywhere.” He characterized the US demands as unacceptable and called any handover demand a “non-starter” for Iranian national interests.
What actually happened in the talks
Trump made the claim around April 16-17, suggesting Iran had agreed to hand over its highly enriched uranium as part of broader nuclear negotiations.
US-Iran talks in mid-April collapsed over a fundamental disagreement about how long Iran should pause uranium enrichment. The US reportedly pushed for a 20-year moratorium. Iran offered five years.
