Iran says enriched nuclear material will stay in country

Iran will keep its enriched nuclear material inside the country and use it for its own purposes, security chief Mohsen Rezaei said in a televised interview, rejecting any transfer abroad and warning of retaliation if the United States attacks again.

Rezaei said Tehran had informed Moscow that the material would remain in Iran. He said it was needed to design ships and submarines powered by nuclear energy. His comments state the Iranian government’s position; they do not independently establish the current quantity or location of the country’s uranium stockpile.

Rezaei warned that Iran would target distant U.S. military bases if American forces launched new attacks. He said this could include bases in European countries if they were used to strike Iran. He did not provide details about when or how such a response would occur.

A pre-strike estimate from the International Atomic Energy Agency put Iran’s stockpile at 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent before U.S. and Israeli attacks on nuclear facilities in June 2025. Inspectors have not verified how much survived those strikes or where the material is stored. The estimate therefore does not establish Iran’s present...