Trump Claims Iran Agreed to Let US Dig Up Buried Nuclear Material After the War

Here's one that sounds almost too strange to be real — but it's very much happening right now.

On June 3, Trump told reporters at the White House that "as of this moment," Tehran has agreed to allow the US into Iran to dig up buried nuclear material in coordination with Iranian authorities once the conflict ends. The material he's talking about is Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium — the stuff that, if processed further, could be used to build nuclear weapons.

So how did it get buried? Back in June 2025, the Pentagon launched what it called Operation Midnight Hammer — US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities that US intelligence assessed had buried much of Iran's highly enriched uranium stockpile at Isfahan, but didn't actually destroy it, despite administration statements that Iran's nuclear program was "obliterated."

That last part matters: the uranium is still down there. Iran has nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to 60% — enough for 10 nuclear weapons — and nuclear experts say Iran could enrich that material to weapons-grade purity within weeks or even days if it has an operational facility. So the whole point of Trump's push is to physically remove this stuff before anyone can use it.

"It's very, very hard to get it… but nevertheless, I want to get at it," Trump said Wednesday. He added that the US and China are probably "the only two countries that have the equipment where you can do that."

He also tried to reassure everyone about security in the meantime: Trump acknowledged that Iranian officials have "changed their mind a couple of times, but as it stands now, we will go in sometime in the not-too-distant future." He added that Space Force cameras are watching the sites — Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan — "at all times."

But here's where it gets complicated. Iran's side of the story looks pretty different. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Wednesday there has been "no significant progress" in talks with the US over the past few days, despite Trump's assertions that talks are going "very well." "There is no formal negotiation process underway between Iran and the United States," Araghchi said.

And this isn't the first time the two sides have clashed over what's actually been agreed to. When Trump previously posted a list of deal terms on Truth Social, Iranian state news outlet Fars pushed back, saying it "raised issues that contradict the provisions of the agreement's text" — including that the draft deal contains no reference to Iran dismantling or destroying its nuclear materials.

There's also a broader pattern worth knowing about. Trump has repeatedly shifted his position on whether Iran must hand over its enriched uranium stockpile. Top administration officials have cast its extraction as a red line, but Trump has repeatedly floated resolutions that come up short of that — and the inconsistency reflects broader confusion about the administration's goals in the war with Iran.

On the practical side, even if Iran fully agreed tomorrow, this wouldn't be easy. Military planners have reviewed options for retrieving the uranium at Isfahan, assessing that it could require hundreds if not thousands of troops. Creating a security perimeter alone would mean a massive footprint — and nuclear experts are skeptical a US operation could even locate and verify all the uranium, much less safely remove it.

Meanwhile, the Pentagon, State Department, and USAID inspectors general launched a joint review of the US war, mandated by law to probe overseas military operations exceeding 60 days. And on Capitol Hill, the House passed a resolution to limit Trump's war powers in Iran — a significant rebuke to the president.

Why does this matter to you personally? The closure of the Strait of Hormuz — a narrow waterway that a huge chunk of the world's oil passes through — has been squeezing energy markets since the war began. The closure of the channel has destabilized oil supplies and sent energy and fuel prices skyrocketing. A deal that sticks could bring relief at the pump. One that falls apart could make things worse. And the question of whether Iran ends up with nuclear weapons — or doesn't — is about as high-stakes as global news gets.