Iran Rejects Transferring "A Single Atom" Of Enriched Uranium From Its Territory

Contradicting earlier Gulf-sourced reports from this week, top Iranian security official Mohsen Rezaei has rejected the prospect of transferring enriched uranium out of the country as part of any deal with the US.

He weighed in during an interview with Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV, wherein Rezaei again slammed the door shut on Iran sending its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium to a third country.

Rezaei, who serves as the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council (SNSC), stressed that the Islamic Republic would not "remove a single atom of enriched nuclear material" and that Russia is aware of Tehran’s position.

State media/Iran wire

Russia had earlier in the conflict offered to receive and store the highly enriched uranium - an overture which presumably still stands, but which Tehran is for now also rejecting.

The fresh statements come after Rezaei met with Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, and amid what appears to be Moscow's stepped up diplomatic involvement in seeking to resolve the crisis in the region.

According a Al Jazeera, "While Iran has repeatedly rejected the transfer of its uranium, it has not ruled out diluting the uranium t