Vladimir Putin Can’t make an offer that Donald Trump won’t refuse? In a phone call with Trump this week, Putin proposed that Russia take custody of Iran’s enriched uranium as part of a broader deal to end the current war while taking advantage of changing dynamics in the Middle East, Axios reported.Trump rejected the offer, Axios reported.Tensions in the Middle East escalated after Donald Trump launched a brutal campaign against the Tehran regime of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was later killed. The United States and Israel have long been frustrated by Iran’s nuclear ambitions, and their military offensives have targeted key nuclear and military sites, leaving Iran weak and angry and triggering a wave of retaliatory attacks across the Gulf.
Securing Iran’s 450 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium, which can be converted into weapons-grade material in a matter of weeks, enough to build more than 10 nuclear bombs, remains one of the key goals for the United States and Israel in the ongoing conflict.
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Do you think Putin’s proposal for Iran to enrich uranium will be effective in easing tensions in the Middle East?
In theory, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s proposal could help eliminate Iran’s nuclear stockpile without requiring U.S. or Israeli troops to be stationed there. The idea involves Russia’s custody of enriched uranium.Russia already possesses advanced nuclear capabilities and has stockpiled Iran’s low-enriched uranium under the 2015 nuclear deal, making it one of the few countries with the technical capabilities to process such material.Putin reportedly offered some ideas on ending the war between the United States and Iran in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday. The uranium custody proposal was one of the recommendations.A U.S. official told Axios: “This is not the first time it has been raised. It has not been accepted. The U.S. position is that we need to secure the uranium.”Russia made a similar offer during U.S.-Iran nuclear talks last May, before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities, and again in the weeks leading up to the current war.In the last round of negotiations before the conflict broke out, Iran rejected the idea of moving uranium abroad. Instead, Tehran proposed diluting enriched uranium at its own facilities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.It is unclear whether Iran would be willing to accept such an offer.“The president talks to everyone – Xi Jinping, Putin, the Europeans, and he is always willing to make a deal. But it has to be a good deal. The president is not going to make a bad deal,” the U.S. official said.Meanwhile, the United States and Israel have also discussed the possibility of sending special forces to Iran to secure its nuclear stockpile later in the war, Axios reported earlier.U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegers told a news conference on Friday that the United States has “a range of options” to control Iran’s highly enriched uranium.Hegseth added that one possible option is for Iran to voluntarily hand over its stockpiles, a move that the United States “welcomes.”“They’re not willing to do that in negotiations. I would never tell this group or the world what we’re willing to do or how far we’re willing to go – but we certainly have options,” he said.However, Trump said ensuring the safety of enriched uranium is not a top priority right now. “We’re not focused on that, but at some point we may be,” he said.The U.S. president also acknowledged for the first time that Russia could provide aid to Iran during the conflict, following reports that Moscow provided intelligence that could help target U.S. troops.“I think [Putin] Might help them a little, yes. He probably thinks we’re helping Ukraine, right? “Trump said in an interview with Fox.“So if he says this, China will say the same thing. To be fair, they do this and so do we.”
