Iran's Mohsen Rezaei says no enriched uranium will leave the country

Mohsen Rezaei, a senior Iranian security official, has said Tehran will not let any of its enriched nuclear material be taken out of the country, not even the smallest amount. He made the remarks in a televised interview with Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese channel aligned with Iran, The Times of Israel reported. He also warned that any renewed American military action against Iran would bring a response against US bases located far from Iran, and said there are no talks under way at present between Tehran and Washington.

According to the Hebrew-language Telegram channel Abu Ali Express, Rezaei said Iran had informed Russia, which he called a friend, that the enriched material would stay inside Iran and that Iran would make use of it itself. That account and a report by News.co.il both quote him as saying Iran intends to keep the material for work on nuclear-powered vessels. Abu Ali Express specified ships and submarines.

Who Mohsen Rezaei is in these reports

The three outlets describe Rezaei's role in slightly different terms. Abu Ali Express calls him the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council and gives him the rank of major general. News.co.il refers to him as the head of that council. The Times of Israel describes him more generally as an Iranian security chief. The Supreme National Security Council is the body in Iran's system of government that handles national defence and security policy, and statements from its leadership are generally read abroad as reflecting the thinking of the state's security establishment rather than one individual.

Al Mayadeen, the channel he chose for the interview, is based in Lebanon and is described by The Times of Israel as pro-Iranian.

Why the stockpile matters

The question of where Iran's enriched uranium ends up is central to Western concerns about its nuclear programme. Enrichment raises the proportion of the fissile isotope in uranium. Low levels are used to fuel power reactors, while much higher levels can be used in a weapon.

The Times of Israel noted that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, estimates Iran held 440.9 kg of uranium enriched to 60 percent at the time Israel and the United States struck Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025. That enrichment level is well beyond what civilian energy use requires. The same report said it is not clear how much of that stockpile survived the strikes.

Israel, the United States and other Western governments have for years accused Iran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran rejects. Rezaei's mention of telling Russia the material would remain in Iran, as reported by Abu Ali Express, implies that the question of sending it abroad had come up, though the reports do not describe any specific proposal.

Rezaei's comments, as reported, frame continued possession of the stockpile in terms of naval propulsion, that is, powering ships and submarines with nuclear reactors, rather than electricity generation.

Negotiations and the threat to US bases

According to The Times of Israel, Washington has said that any first round of talks meant to bring the war with Iran to an end has to cover nuclear issues. Rezaei's statement that no such talks are currently taking place, and his refusal to part with the enriched material, set out a position that runs counter to that American demand.

Both The Times of Israel and News.co.il reported his warning that a further US attack would be answered by hitting American bases at a distance. Neither outlet reported him naming particular bases or countries.

Claims about drones

Abu Ali Express also reported that Rezaei claimed Iran had reached an advanced level in electronic warfare, enough to take control of American unmanned aerial vehicles and bring them down intact. This claim appears only in that account. The other two reports do not mention it, and no evidence for it was presented in the material.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports carries a response from Washington, Moscow, Jerusalem or the IAEA to Rezaei's remarks. The reports give no figure for how much enriched material Iran currently holds, and Rezaei's statements about Russia and about seizing US drones rest on a single outlet's account. The discrepancy over his exact title, secretary or head of the council, is not resolved in the material.