Iran will not allow even a single particle of its enriched nuclear material to leave the country, and there will be consequences if the United States launches new strikes, Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei said in televised remarks on Wednesday, November 11, according to Reuters.
Source: Reuters
Rezaei, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, was speaking to Lebanon's Al Mayadeen TV. Al Jazeera reported the same interview as a rejection of a US proposal to transfer Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 percent to a third country.
Source: Al Jazeera via DevDiscourse/ISNA
"We need the enriched material to design ships and submarines that work on nuclear energy," Rezaei said, adding that Tehran has informed Moscow that its enriched nuclear material will remain in the country and "we will use it ourselves." He also said Iran has told its Russian friends the material will be used for domestic applications.
Rezaei said there are currently no negotiations taking place between Tehran and Washington. According to Al Jazeera's reporting of the interview, he said Iran has announced seven conditions — described by Tehran as the rights of the Iranian nation — and that until those conditions are implemented, the Strait of Hormuz will not open.
The seven conditions were set out by Tehran earlier this week, in the development Awaaz Punjab reported on Tuesday. Read: Iran's seven conditions and the Hormuz standoff
Al Jazeera reported that the demands include lifting post-agreement economic sanctions, ending the US naval blockade, unfreezing restricted Iranian assets and drawing down the regional US military footprint, and that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier said shipping would resume within 48 hours if the terms were met. Al Jazeera also noted that while Iran has repeatedly rejected transferring its uranium, it has not ruled out diluting the uranium to a lower enrichment level under international supervision.
Iran's Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country's near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, two senior Iranian sources told Reuters in May. Iran sent the United States a nuclear proposal via Qatar last week, to be discussed only after Washington meets the seven demands Tehran has presented, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
The remarks came after US officials downplayed the need for additional military action against Iran, with analysts noting President Donald Trump's more conciliatory tone since the Republicans' defeat in the November 3 midterm elections, Reuters reported. On the US side, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth restated Washington's position on Tuesday that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon; Iran has long denied seeking one.
Markets reacted within hours. Reuters reported that oil prices rose more than 1 percent on Wednesday from the previous session's two-month low after Rezaei's statement, and market reports put Brent crude at about $92.77 a barrel and US WTI at about $86.80, after Tuesday settlements of $91.49 and $86.04. (Yaani: Brent is still well below its October highs above $117 a barrel.)
Source: Kitco/Reuters market report
Why it matters for the Gulf and its workers
The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly a fifth of the world's oil shipments, and its continued closure keeps shipping, fuel prices and remittance costs uncertain across the Gulf — home to lakhs of Punjabi and Indian workers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and neighbouring states. Any new US strikes, which Rezaei warned would be met by targeting US bases far away, would put that workforce closest to the risk.
What happens next: Tehran says it is waiting for a clear US response to its seven conditions, and Washington has not announced any new talks. The uranium stockpile itself has not been inspected since the June 2025 attacks, and the IAEA estimate above dates from before those strikes — how much of the 440.9 kg survives, and where it is, remains unverified.