A senior Turkish official told Haaretz that Ankara may suggest transferring Iran’s enriched uranium, including roughly 440 kilograms enriched to 60 percent, to Turkey, with a guarantee that the material would not be returned to Iran. The idea is being raised amid discussions over potential new negotiations on Iran’s nuclear program.
Turkey has previously been involved in similar arrangements. In 2010, Turkey, Brazil and Iran signed an agreement under which Iran was to ship 1,200 kilograms of uranium enriched to 3.67 percent to Turkey in exchange for nuclear fuel rods for research purposes. That deal was later scrapped following opposition from leading members of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
In late 2015, as part of the nuclear agreement, Russia took possession of about 11,000 kilograms of low-enriched Iranian uranium. More recently, Moscow has offered to store Iran’s remaining enriched uranium if a new agreement is reached.
According to the Turkish official, Ankara believes it could be seen by Washington as a more reliable custodian than Russia, citing Turkey’s close ties with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former U.S. President Donald Trump.
Iran has not publicly commented on the proposal. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow remains prepared to accept Iran’s enriched uranium as part of any future arrangement.