NYT Says Iran Agreed to Give Up Highly Enriched Uranium in Early Deal, Testing Truce Talks

President Donald Trump said on May 23 that a deal to end the conflict with Iran was close, and a new U.S. account says an initial agreement includes Iran giving up its highly enriched uranium.

The New York Times reported on May 23, citing multiple U.S. officials, that Washington demanded Iran relinquish its highly enriched uranium as part of an initial deal and that Tehran accepted.

The officials said the two sides had not agreed on exactly how Iran's uranium stockpile would be handled. That issue, they said, would be taken up in later negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

That suggests negotiators are considering a framework under which Iran first agrees to give up the stockpile, while broader questions about its nuclear program are deferred to later talks.

The report came after a Pakistani mediation team visited Tehran a day earlier for a series of high-level contacts with Iranian officials. Trump also said he had been in touch with Middle Eastern countries and signaled that a truce agreement was near.

Still, it is unclear how close the two sides are to agreement on the terms that have divided them so far. Those include Iran's nuclear program, a halt to regional attacks including Israeli strikes on Lebanon, and the restoration of normal shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

The disposal of Iran's highly enriched uranium has emerged as the biggest issue in the truce negotiations. Iran holds about 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, and Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. would take possession of that stockpile. Securing near-weapons-grade uranium from Iran and placing it under U.S. control could help blunt criticism of a prolonged war.

Under the nuclear deal reached during former President Barack Obama's administration, Iran transferred its stockpile to Russia. If the Trump administration were to bring that material to the U.S. instead, it could also present that as a symbolic achievement.

Iran, however, has strongly rejected such scenarios. For Tehran, handing highly enriched uranium to the U.S. could be seen as capitulation.

Iran has therefore opposed including the uranium issue in an initial accord and has sought to push it to a second phase of negotiations.

The New York Times reported that the U.S. negotiating team had used mediating countries to press Iran, warning that Washington would withdraw from the talks and resume military operations unless an initial agreement on the uranium stockpile was reached.

U.S. military officials have also recently presented Trump with several options for striking Iran's uranium stockpile, the report said. One included using bunker-buster bombs to hit the Isfahan nuclear facility, where the uranium is believed to be stored.

Trump wrote on Truth Social on May 23 that final coordination on the details was under way and that the Strait of Hormuz would also be reopened as part of an agreement. He did not specify what deal had been reached or what obstacles remained.

Axios, citing sources, reported that mediating countries had prepared a one-page framework agreement and were considering announcing it as early as May 24, with detailed talks to follow within days.

Iran has yet to issue an official response to Trump's comments.

Ko Jung-sam, Hankyung.com reporter jsk@hankyung.com