The Trump administration is requesting $672 million to fund the removal of Iranian nuclear materials, support inspections and verification, and bolster counterproliferation activities as part of a broader $80 billion supplemental funding request.
The funds would support the disposition of nuclear materials, including uranium hexafluoride (UF6) and highly enriched uranium, as well as U.S. verification efforts inside Iran, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections, and enhanced nuclear-smuggling detection and emergency response capabilities in the Middle East. The Department of Energy would manage these activities, which aim to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon.
This request comes as U.S. and Iranian negotiators are working to finalize a detailed agreement governing Iran's nuclear program and its stockpile of enriched uranium. A memorandum of understanding, signed on June 17, initiated technical talks aimed at establishing terms for Iran's approximately 900-pound stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium. The agreement specifies "downblending," or diluting the uranium, as the minimum methodology, to be conducted on-site under IAEA supervision.
Key details regarding the ultimate fate of the enriched uranium, including whether it will remain in Iran, be transferred, or be destroyed, remain publicly undisclosed. Vice President JD Vance, leading technical talks in Switzerland, has hailed Iran's agreement to allow IAEA inspectors back into the country for the first time since last year's strikes on Iranian nuclear infrastructure as a "major milestone."
President Donald Trump has stated that Iran has agreed to "nuclear honesty" and "highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future." He indicated that without this agreement, negotiations would have ceased.
The $672 million for non-proliferation is part of a larger $80 billion supplemental funding request that is expected to cover military operations, munition stockpile replenishment, and other national security priorities related to the Iran conflict.
The challenge of managing Iran's enriched uranium stockpile is substantial, drawing parallels to the 1994 U.S. covert operation, Project Sapphire, which involved the removal of highly enriched uranium from Kazakhstan following the Soviet Union's collapse. That operation required extensive logistical, security, and military airlift measures.