Syed Zafar Mehdi
09 February 2026•Update: 09 February 2026
TEHRAN, Iran
The head of Iran’s nuclear agency, Mohammad Eslami, on Monday signaled a “possible dilution” of 60 percent enriched uranium in the case of removing all sanctions on the country.
“This matter depends on whether all sanctions are lifted in return or not,” Eslami told reporters in Tehran.
He, however, dismissed reports about transferring enriched uranium out of the country, saying the issue is being pushed by “pressure groups” against Iran.
The nuclear chief emphasized that the transfer of enriched uranium “has not been on the agenda at all” and has not been discussed in the ongoing negotiations with the US.
Iran and the US resumed their indirect nuclear diplomacy on Monday in Muscat under Omani mediation, nearly eight months after the negotiations were suspended following an Israeli attack on Iran that sparked a 12-day war.
Assessments from both sides have been positive following the latest round of talks, held amid heightened tensions over the US military buildup in the Persian Gulf.
One issue widely discussed in the media was the fate of 400 kg of enriched uranium, with reports suggesting the US has asked Iran to transfer it to a third country.
Ali Shamkhani, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and head of the newly-formed Iranian Defense Council, previously denied any plan to transfer enriched uranium abroad, stating there was “no reason” to do so.
Eslami also referred to the “safeguards” agreement with the UN nuclear agency, saying Tehran has had “continuous interaction” with the watchdog regarding sites attacked by the US in June 2025, “within the framework of safeguards.”
He said the main point in the ongoing negotiations concerns the “rights of the Iranian nation,” noting that the UN agency is “obliged to encourage, support, and facilitate peaceful nuclear technology” according to its own law.
He criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for “remaining silent” on the targeting of Iranian nuclear sites under safeguards supervision.
Three key nuclear sites – in Fordo, Isfahan, and Natanz – were attacked by US B-2 bombers on June 22, ten days into the Iran-Israel war, after which US officials claimed the country’s nuclear program had been “obliterated.”
Pertinently, Iran was allowed to enrich uranium up to 3.6 percent under the 2015 nuclear deal. It started scaling up the enrichment level after the US walked out of the deal in 2018, and was until recently enriching at the purity level of 60 percent.
