The United States and Iran are starting a negotiation process in Pakistan on Friday. The issue of Iranian uranium stocks is proving to be a particularly sensitive point.
Published on April 9, 2026 at 10:19. Reading time: 2min.
A satellite view of the Fordo uranium enrichment site in Iran, south of Tehran, on February 12, 2025. (SATELLITE IMAGE ©2021 MAXAR TECH)
After more than a month of war and a dramatic turnaround between threats of annihilation and a two-week ceasefire announced by Donald Trump, Washington and Tehran are reopening dialogue on Friday, April 10 in Islamabad, with the Pakistani negotiator.
At the heart of the discussions is the Iranian nuclear issue, its stocks, and their fate, probably the most sensitive point of these negotiations. Before the US strikes last June, Iran reportedly had about 440 kg of enriched uranium at 60%. Since then, these stocks have partly disappeared from the radars.
Some of it is believed to still be buried in the tunnels of the Isfahan site. Other quantities may have been relocated, especially from Fordo or Natanz, sometimes just before the bombings. Donald Trump mentions cooperation with Tehran to retrieve this “nuclear dust,” as he puts it.
His Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth emphasized that Iran cannot retain this nuclear capability. It is non-negotiable for the Americans. The uranium, he threatens, must be returned by the Iranians or the United States will retrieve it themselves, “by any means necessary.” However, it is stored in the form of gas, in metal cylinders, scattered, protected, and difficult to access. Retrieving it would be an extremely heavy military operation. On the other side, Iran maintains its stance: its right to enrichment for civilian purposes.
Just before the start of the war, Tehran had even accepted the principle of diluting its stock in exchange for a lifting of sanctions. The entire negotiation will hinge on these American and Iranian red lines, and the reality of a stock that is difficult to locate and even more challenging to neutralize.
