Mike Waltz: US offered to sell Iran uranium for civilian programme

US ambassador says Iran refused to agree to an arrangement where uranium would be supplied by Washington.

Mike Waltz, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, listens during a UN Security Council meeting during the 81st UN General Assembly, in New York City on September 23, 2026 [File: Angela Weiss/AFP]

As part of previous negotiations aimed at ending its war on Iran, the United States offered to sell Tehran uranium for use in a civilian programme, but Iran refused, a top US official said on Sunday.

“Heck, our negotiators even offered to sell them uranium,” US Ambassador to the United Nations Mike Waltz said on NBC’s Meet the Press. He said the agreement would have been akin to that with the United Arab Emirates, which has “a peaceful programme, right there in their neighbourhood, and they abide by international law and inspection regimes”.

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Waltz said the administration of US President Donald Trump was open to allowing Iran to keep a civilian nuclear programme, provided it agreed to its obligations in accordance with international law and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

There were “a number of ways” President Trump was open to dealing with Iran to ensure it did not have access to highly enriched uranium, or the ability to reconstitute highly enriched uranium, including by having Tehran “hand over” any such material it currently has, Waltz said.

The UAE, a signatory to the NPT, generates electricity from a nuclear power plant and signed an agreement with the US in 2009. Under those agreements , the UAE has agreed not to produce enriched uranium domestically, and not to reprocess spent fuel on its own. Trump said Saudi Arabia and the US reached an agreement on civilian nuclear use this year, but details have not yet been made public, and the US president has also claimed the deal is contingent on Riyadh agreeing to the controversial Abraham Accords. Around the region, Egypt and Turkiye also operate civilian nuclear programmes.

Pakistan openly operates a nuclear arsenal, while experts have long believed Israel secretly possesses one of its own. Neither country is a signatory to the NPT.

A key point of contention between Iran and the US has been what should be done with the uranium that Tehran currently has, and how, or even if, to ensure any future supply of the material is not capable of being used for producing a nuclear weapon. Iran has insisted it has no plans to create a nuclear weapon, and any uranium it possesses and enriches is only for civilian purposes, including for generating electricity and use in medical treatments and scientific research.

Iran is estimated to have more than 440kg (970lb) of uranium enriched at 60 percent purity. Uranium enriched to around 90 percent purity is suitable for a nuclear weapon. Enriching uranium is a complex process that involves isolating the most radioactive isotope in a quantity of uranium. Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to cap its uranium enrichment at 3.67 percent under strict international supervision in exchange for lifting sanctions against its economy. Trump scrapped that deal in 2018, saying it was too generous to Iran.

On September 10, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it was concerned over Iran’s “continued noncompliance” with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which it is a signatory. Under the treaty, Iran agrees not to produce nuclear weapons and to meet IAEA safeguards to control its supply of uranium used for civilian purposes. The agency has not had access to key Iranian nuclear facilities since June 2025, when Israel and the US attacked sites in the country as part of a 12-day war.

Iranian officials have responded to the IAEA by saying the finding was made “under political pressure from the US and its allies”, and that they have not stopped respecting their treaty obligations, but could not allow inspections until facilities were safe from US and Israeli attacks.

At times, Trump has said he will destroy the enriched uranium Iran has or retrieve it by force. In April, the US president claimed to have convinced Iran to turn over the enriched uranium it had, which he referred to as “nuclear dust”. Iranian officials quickly dismissed those claims, saying enriched uranium would not be transferred outside the country under any circumstances.

On Saturday, Trump rejected a plan submitted by Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days, as Tehran continued to insist that only diplomacy can solve the conflict between the two countries. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said on Saturday that Iran wants to make a deal to open the vital maritime corridor immediately only “because they are losing so badly”.

In an interview on Meet the Press on Sunday, Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said that Iran is prepared for war to resume, “even if it comes to a doomsday war”.

He added, “If you ask us, there is no reason why we should go back to diplomacy. But I’m still trying diplomacy, because I think we shouldn’t miss any chance for peace.”

美国大使称，伊朗拒绝接受由华盛顿提供铀的安排。

2026年9月23日，美国驻联合国大使迈克·沃尔兹在纽约举行的第81届联合国大会期间，在联合国安理会会议上聆听发言。[图片：Angela Weiss/AFP]

一位美国高级官员周日表示，作为此前旨在结束对伊战争的谈判的一部分，美国曾提出向德黑兰出售铀，用于民用项目，但遭到伊朗拒绝。

“哎，我们的谈判代表甚至提出要卖给他们铀，”美国常驻联合国代表迈克·沃尔兹在NBC的《会见媒体》节目中说道。他表示，这项协议本应类似于与阿联酋达成的协议，阿联酋“在其邻国附近开展和平的铀矿开采项目，并且遵守国际法和核查机制”。

伊朗浓缩铀库存清单（共 3 项）：能否安全转移？

国际原子能机构通过决议，要求伊朗提供核能通道；德黑兰拒绝接受。

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沃尔兹表示，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普的政府愿意允许伊朗保留民用核计划，前提是伊朗同意按照国际法和《不扩散核武器条约》（NPT）履行其义务。

沃尔兹表示，特朗普总统愿意采取“多种方式”与伊朗打交道，以确保伊朗无法获得高浓缩铀或重新合成高浓缩铀的能力，包括让德黑兰“交出”其目前拥有的任何此类材料。

阿联酋是《不扩散核武器条约》（NPT）的缔约国，该国利用核电站发电，并于2009年与美国签署了一项协议。根据这些协议，阿联酋承诺不在国内生产浓缩铀，也不自行处理乏燃料。特朗普表示，沙特阿拉伯和美国今年就民用核能利用达成了一项协议，但具体细节尚未公开。美国总统还声称，该协议的生效取决于利雅得是否同意备受争议的《亚伯拉罕协议》。在该地区，埃及和土耳其也开展了民用核能项目。

巴基斯坦公开拥有核武库，而专家们长期以来一直认为以色列秘密拥有核武库。两国均未签署《不扩散核武器条约》。

伊朗和美国之间的一个关键争议点在于，应该如何处理德黑兰目前拥有的铀，以及如何确保（甚至是否需要确保）未来的铀供应不会被用于制造核武器。伊朗坚称其没有制造核武器的计划，其拥有和浓缩的任何铀都仅用于民用用途，包括发电、医疗和科学研究。

据估计，伊朗拥有超过440公斤（970磅）纯度为60%的浓缩铀。纯度约为90%的浓缩铀适用于制造核武器。浓缩铀是一个复杂的过程，需要从一定量的铀中分离出放射性最强的同位素。根据2015年《联合全面行动计划》（JCPOA），伊朗同意在严格的国际监督下将其铀浓缩水平限制在3.67%，以换取国际社会解除对其经济的制裁。特朗普于2018年废除了该协议，称其对伊朗过于慷慨。

9月10日，国际原子能机构（IAEA）表示，对伊朗“持续违反”其签署国《不扩散核武器条约》的行为表示关切。根据该条约，伊朗同意不生产核武器，并接受国际原子能机构的保障监督，以控制其用于民用目的的铀供应。自2025年6月以色列和美国发动为期12天的战争，袭击伊朗境内设施以来，国际原子能机构一直无法进入伊朗的关键核设施。

伊朗官员回应国际原子能机构称，这一结论是“在美国及其盟友的政治压力下”做出的，他们并没有停止履行条约义务，但只有在设施免受美国和以色列的袭击后才能允许进行核查。

特朗普曾多次表示，他将销毁伊朗拥有的浓缩铀，或以武力将其收回。今年4月，这位美国总统声称已说服伊朗交出其拥有的浓缩铀，他称之为“核尘埃”。伊朗官员迅速驳斥了这些说法，称浓缩铀在任何情况下都不会被转移到国外。

周六，特朗普拒绝了伊朗提出的七天内重新开放霍尔木兹海峡的方案。德黑兰方面则继续坚持，只有外交途径才能解决两国之间的冲突。特朗普周六在白宫对记者表示，伊朗之所以想立即达成协议开放这条至关重要的海上通道，仅仅是因为“他们节节败退”。

伊朗外交部长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇周日在接受《与媒体见面》节目采访时表示，伊朗已做好再次开战的准备，“即使开战是世界末日”。

他补充道：“如果我们要问，我们认为没有理由重拾外交手段。但我仍然会尝试外交途径，因为我认为我们不应该错过任何和平的机会。”