Iran's security chief: 'not a single particle' of enriched uranium will leave Iran, vows strikes on distant U.S. bases if attacked

Iran's security chief: 'not a single particle' of enriched uranium will leave Iran, vows strikes on distant U.S. bases if attacked.

Iran will not allow "even a single particle" of its enriched nuclear material to leave the country, the secretary of its Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, said Wednesday, warning of retaliation against U.S. bases "far away" if Washington strikes again, according to Reuters.

Rezaei made the remarks to Lebanon's pro-Iranian Al Mayadeen television. He said Tehran had informed Russia, which has previously offered to take Iran's uranium as part of a possible deal, that the material would stay in Iran and "we will use it ourselves." He said Iran needs the enriched material to design ships and submarines powered by nuclear energy, Reuters and Iran's Mehr news agency reported.

The comments came after U.S. officials played down the need for further military action against Iran, with analysts noting President Donald Trump's more conciliatory tone since Republicans' defeat in the Nov. 3 midterm elections. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said there is "no need" to restart combat operations. Rezaei said there are currently no negotiations between Tehran and Washington, and listed ending the war on all fronts in the region, particularly Lebanon, as a fundamental Iranian condition.

Trump has repeatedly cited Iran's nuclear program as the core reason for going to war, CBS News noted. The International Atomic Energy Agency estimates Iran had 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, far above civilian needs and close to weapons grade, when Israel and the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025. How much of that stockpile survived is unclear.

Iran's supreme leader issued a directive in May that the near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters at the time. Israel, the United States and other Western countries have long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, which Tehran denies.

The hard line on the stockpile leaves little room for the kind of removal deal Western capitals have sought, even as the fighting has paused.