Trump Seeks $672 Million to Remove Iranian Nuclear Materials as Deal Talks Continue
The Trump administration has requested $672 million from Congress to remove and eliminate Iranian nuclear materials as part of an $80 billion supplemental funding package tied to the military campaign against Iran known as Operation Epic Fury, Fox News Digital reported Wednesday, citing a White House official. The funding would support the disposal of uranium hexafluoride, enriched uranium in multiple forms, and research reactor fuel, including highly enriched uranium. The request arrives as U.S. and Iranian negotiators work to convert a June 17 memorandum of understanding into a more detailed binding agreement.
The Trump administration has requested $672 million from Congress to remove and eliminate Iranian nuclear materials as part of an $80 billion supplemental funding package tied to the military campaign against Iran known as Operation Epic Fury, Fox News Digital reported Wednesday, citing a White House official. The funding would support the disposal of uranium hexafluoride, enriched uranium in multiple forms, and research reactor fuel, including highly enriched uranium. The request arrives as U.S. and Iranian negotiators work to convert a June 17 memorandum of understanding into a more detailed binding agreement.
What the Funding Would Cover
According to the White House official, the $672 million would go to the Department of Energy to fund "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 allocation would also support U.S. verification activities inside Iran, fund International Atomic Energy Agency inspections, bolster nuclear-smuggling detection efforts and expand Nuclear Emergency Support Team operations across the Middle East.
Secretary Pete Hegseth was briefing members of the House Republican Study Committee on the full $80 billion supplemental request, which spans military operations, munitions stockpile replenishment and other national security priorities stemming from the Iran conflict.
Status of the Nuclear Agreement
The June 17 memorandum of understanding, which Vice President JD Vance called a "major milestone," established minimum terms for Iran's roughly 900-pound stockpile of uranium enriched to near-weapons grade. The document specifies that the stockpile will at minimum be "down blended on site under the supervision of the IAEA," though the ultimate fate of the material — whether it stays in Iran, is transferred abroad or is destroyed — remains unresolved. Neither government has publicly confirmed an agreement on disposition.
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social that Iran had agreed to what he described as "highest level Nuclear inspections long into the future." Vance noted that Iran had agreed to allow IAEA inspectors back into the country for the first time since U.S. and Israeli military strikes targeted Iranian nuclear infrastructure.
Scale of the Logistical Challenge
Officials and outside experts have pointed to the complexity of any removal operation. In 1994, the United States executed a covert mission called Project Sapphire to extract roughly 600 kilograms of highly enriched uranium from Kazakhstan following the Soviet Union's collapse. That operation required weeks of repackaging nuclear material under extensive security precautions before a military airlift could move the uranium to the United States — an illustration of the scale that disposing of Iran's stockpile could demand.