Removal of Iranian nuclear materials to be worked out as war deal nears
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- Trump administration officials said they are 80% to 85% sure a memorandum of understanding with Iran will be signed this month, possibly in Europe, to formally end the war.
- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi wrote on social media that a memorandum of understanding with the United States "has never been closer," while urging media to refrain from speculating about its content.
- The memorandum of understanding will create a framework to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, destroy enriched nuclear materials, and establish inspections to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon, according to a U.S. official.
- Nuclear material removal from Iran remains technically unresolved, with a senior U.S. official telling reporters: "We're not just going to, like, go down there with a backhoe and a guy with a backpack and start taking it out."
- The agreement includes a 60-day technical negotiation after signing to work out what Iran must accomplish for the United States to lift economic sanctions.
- President Donald Trump said negotiators had "just made a great settlement of the war with Iran," subject to finalization of documents over the next few days.
- A senior U.S. official did not rule out civilian nuclear power in Iran, saying the concern is specifically about infrastructure that would let Iran "jump from civilian power generation to nuclear weapons development."
Why it matters: A signed MOU would end an active war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil corridor, while the follow-on 60-day technical negotiation will determine whether U.S. economic sanctions on Iran actually come off. The mutual distrust openly acknowledged by a senior official — and the still-unresolved mechanics of physically removing Iran's nuclear material — mean the hardest bargaining sits ahead, not behind.
