As Washington and Tehran move closer to a possible agreement over Iran’s nuclear programme, Iran has reportedly strengthened protections around its stockpile of highly-enriched uranium, making any future retrieval effort far more difficult.
According to a CNN report citing five sources familiar with US intelligence, Iran has in recent weeks “collapsed tunnels” leading to its uranium stockpile and “booby-trapped” entrances with explosive mines, making access significantly more difficult. The measures have effectively sealed off material believed to be close to bomb-grade enrichment. Track US-Iran war live updates.
The developments come just weeks after US President Donald Trump publicly floated the possibility of ordering the US military to seize Iran’s uranium reserves.
Access to uranium now ‘more difficult’
The report said Iran’s latest actions have made it substantially harder to reach roughly half a tonne of highly-enriched uranium believed to be stored underground.
The material is thought to be located primarily in collapsed tunnels at the Isfahan nuclear complex in central Iran, with smaller quantities reportedly stored at other locations.
The new fortifications add another challenge to a proposed US-Iran arrangement under which Tehran is expected to surrender its enriched uranium for destruction and removal from the country, the report added.
A senior US administration official told reporters on Friday that Washington and Tehran were moving closer to an agreement requiring Iran to hand over its enriched uranium. Under the proposal, the material would be destroyed on-site before being removed from Iran.
Separately, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Saturday that the United States and Iran had agreed on a framework for a peace deal to end months of conflict in the Middle East. According to Sharif, a final text has been reached, and preparations are underway for an electronic signing within 24 hours, followed by technical discussions next week.
However, uncertainty remains over the exact terms of any agreement.
Challenges in retrieving the stockpile
The report further added that the US military was prepared in mid-May to carry out an operation to seize the nuclear material. Still, the plan was ultimately considered too risky. Since then, Iran has reportedly continued strengthening the sites where the uranium is believed to be stored underground.
Two sources cited by CNN suggested that Trump’s public discussion of the uranium stockpile as a potential military target may itself have prompted Tehran to further reinforce and conceal the material.
Even if an agreement is finalised, experts say physically recovering the uranium may prove extremely complicated.
“If this reporting is true, it would definitely complicate … retrieving the HEU,” Scott Roecker, who led the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Nuclear Material Removal from 2017 to 2021, told CNN.
Roecker also warned that Iran’s efforts to seal off its uranium stockpile could make it harder to verify full compliance with any future nuclear deal. While Tehran may be required to recover and present its entire inventory of highly enriched uranium under the nuclear deal, he cautioned that Iran could claim some material is inaccessible, leaving uncertainty over its access to part of the stockpile.