Trump seeks over $600 million to neutralise Iran's nuclear stockpile

President Donald Trump's administration is seeking $672 million in funding to support the removal of Iranian nuclear materials, inspections and verification efforts, as U.S. and Iranian negotiators work toward a detailed agreement on Tehran's nuclear programme and stockpile of enriched uranium.

The funding request, part of a broader $80 billion supplemental package tied to the recent conflict with Iran, would be allocated to the Department of Energy for activities aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, Caliber.Az reports per US media.

According to administration officials, the funding would support the removal and elimination of Iranian nuclear materials, including uranium hexafluoride (UF6), uranium in various forms and research reactor fuel, including highly enriched uranium.

The request would also finance U.S. verification activities inside Iran, support inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), strengthen nuclear-smuggling detection efforts and expand Nuclear Emergency Support Team operations across the Middle East.

The proposal comes as Washington and Tehran seek to convert a memorandum of understanding signed on June 17 into a comprehensive agreement governing Iran's future nuclear activities and its stockpile of enriched uranium.

A White House official said the funding would support "activities that would terminate Iran's ability to develop or acquire a nuclear weapon, including the disposition of proliferation of sensitive material, technology, equipment, and infrastructure."

The memorandum of understanding established a framework for addressing Iran's estimated 900-pound stockpile of uranium enriched to near-weapons-grade levels. Under the document, the minimum agreed approach is to reduce enrichment levels through a process known as downblending under IAEA supervision.

"The United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran have agreed to resolve the disposition of stockpile enriched material pursuant to a mechanism that will be mutually agreed upon in accordance with the schedule mentioned in paragraph seven with the minimum methodology to be down blended on site under the supervision of the IAEA," the memorandum states.

However, the agreement does not specify the ultimate fate of the enriched uranium, leaving unresolved whether the material will remain in Iran, be transferred abroad, destroyed or subjected to other measures.

U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Iran had agreed to allow IAEA inspectors to return to the country following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities last year, describing the move as a "major milestone."

Trump has also highlighted Tehran's commitments on nuclear oversight.

"Iran has fully and completely agreed to highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future (Infinity!!!)," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "If they did not agree to this, there would be no further negotiations!"

The administration's broader $80 billion funding request is expected to cover military operations related to the campaign against Iran, replenishment of U.S. weapons stockpiles and other national security priorities.

Disposing of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile could present significant logistical challenges. U.S. officials and nuclear experts have pointed to the complexity of similar operations in the past, including the 1994 Project Sapphire mission, when the United States removed roughly 600 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from Kazakhstan following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The administration is expected to submit the full supplemental funding request to Congress in the coming days.

By Aghakazim Guliyev