Iran’s supreme leader has agreed ‘in principle’ to give up uranium as part of peace deal, US official says

WASHINGTON — American negotiators believe that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has signed off on the “broad template” of a peace plan in which his nation would agree “in principle” to dispose of its highly enriched uranium.

The deal, which would reopen the Strait of Hormuz to free passage of ships after three months of war, could still take days for final ratification by Iranian negotiators as both sides wrangle over its wording.

“They will open up the strait in exchange for us lifting the blockade, and they will agree in principle to dispose of the highly enriched uranium, but then there’s a question about how precisely to do that,” a senior Trump administration official said.

“We feel quite confident that the supreme leader has signed off on the broad template.”

The deal would reopen the crucial strait without new tolls, and would leave major issues unresolved pending further talks, with sanctions relief tied to progress on offloading the nuclear material and an enforcement mechanism to bar future enrichment.

The Iranian side has “national pride considerations” for offloading the material, the US official said.

President Trump, who on Saturday announced the pending agreement, has floated destroying the roughly 1,000 pounds of highly enriched uranium, and also mentioned the possibility of Iran working with the Chinese government to help dig out the buried nuclear material and transport it out of the country.

“A lot of this debate is not really what happens to the stockpiled material, but it’s how the Iranians can sell it to their own hardliners and to their own population in a way that gets us what we need as well,” the official said.

“No one disputes that the stockpiled enriched material will be disposed of. It’s a question about how. And then simultaneously, while we’re figuring out that question of how, we’re going to have this thing where the straits open, the blockade is lifted and we get the economy some breathing room.”

The official added: “Even if we get this language in a good place, it is going to take days for it to filter through their system and to get an approval.”

The question of sanctions relief, meanwhile, could be summed up as “no dust, no dollars,” the official said.

“In other words, no highly enriched uranium, then the Iranians aren’t going to get any real relief.”

“If the Iranians make significant accommodations on the enrichment question, then we will make significant accommodations on sanctions relief, and that’s always been the fundamental question.”

Iran would get “nothing” in terms of an unfreezing of assets in the interim before a final deal is inked, according to the official. 

Since the Operation Epic Fury attacks were launched against Iran, questions have swirled over the status of its new supreme leader, including whether he was alive, coherent, or significantly involved in negotiations. 

Trump administration officials have claimed to have gotten conflicting responses from elements of the battered Islamic Republic throughout negotiations. 

Some Iranian officials have disputed reports that it has agreed to surrender the enriched uranium, at least in the rumored memorandum of understanding that is expected to prelude a more full-fledged deal.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has insisted that the theocratic regime isn’t after a nuke, but also vowed that the country’s “negotiating team will not compromise when it counts to our country’s dignity and sovereignty.”

“We are ready to assure the world that we are not seeking nuclear weapons. We are not seeking instability in the region,” Pezeshkian told reporters.

Trump has faced backlash from GOP hawks over rumors of the deal, including concerns that it could embolden Iran to use the Strait of Hormuz as leverage in the future, and fears that Iran can’t be trusted to surrender its stockpile of enriched uranium. 

Top officials in Israel have also reportedly privately conveyed unease about the deal taking shape. 

“I have informed my representatives not to rush into a deal in that time is on our side. The Blockade will remain in full force and effect until an agreement is reached, certified, and signed,” Trump declared on Truth Social amid concerns.

The US official had cautioned against reporting bogus foreign spin and warned that other actors, including domestic and foreign ones inside Iran, may be attempting to thwart sensitive negotiations. 

“I would say, by and large, most people in the Iranian system don’t love the deal, but they also don’t like the idea of going back to war,” the official explained, noting that sometimes the Trump administration has concluded certain dubious leaks have made it out to the press “because somebody is trying to kill this thing or is trying to derail our progress.”

Officials also caveated that “whether the broad template becomes an actual agreement that is still an open question.”