Russian President Vladimir Putin recently suggested transferring Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium to Russia as part of a possible arrangement to end the war, but President Donald Trump rejected the proposal, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

The idea was reportedly raised during a phone conversation between Putin and Trump earlier this week, according to a report by N12.

One of the central objectives of the war for both the United States and Israel is gaining control over Iran’s approximately 450 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent. Experts say that material could potentially be enriched to 90 percent within weeks and would be sufficient to produce more than ten nuclear weapons. In theory, Putin’s proposal could have provided a way to remove the uranium from Iran without requiring American or Israeli troops to enter the country.

During the call on Monday, Putin reportedly presented several possible approaches for ending the conflict between the United States and Iran. The idea of transferring the uranium to Russia was one of the proposals discussed.

“This is not the first time this proposal has been raised. It was not accepted. The American position is that we need to see that the uranium is secured,” a senior U.S. official said.

In the final round of diplomatic talks held before the war began, Iran rejected the possibility of transferring its uranium stockpile to Russia. Instead, Tehran proposed diluting the uranium inside its own nuclear facilities under supervision from the International Atomic Energy Agency. It remains unclear whether Iran would now be willing to reconsider the Russian proposal.

At the same time, the United States and Israel have also examined the possibility of deploying special forces into Iran later in the war to seize control of the enriched uranium stockpile. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said during a press conference yesterday that the United States “has a variety of options” for taking control of Iran’s highly enriched uranium.

Trump also acknowledged for the first time that Russia may be providing some level of assistance to Iran in the conflict, after days of reports suggesting Moscow has been sharing intelligence that could help guide attacks on American forces.

“I think he (Putin) might be helping them a little bit, yes. And he probably thinks we are helping Ukraine, right?” Trump said in an interview with Fox Radio.

{Matzav.com}