The Trump administration is seeking $672 million for the removal of Iranian nuclear materials, inspections and verification efforts, and other counterproliferation activities as part of its broader $80 billion supplemental funding request.
The funding would support the removal and elimination of Iranian nuclear materials, including uranium hexafluoride, uranium in various forms and research reactor fuel, including highly enriched uranium, according to details shared by a White House official.
The request also would fund U.S. verification activities inside Iran, support inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, strengthen nuclear-smuggling detection efforts and expand Nuclear Emergency Support Team operations across the Middle East.
The funding would go to the Department of Energy to support "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," a White House official said.
The funding request comes as U.S. and Iranian negotiators work to translate the recent memorandum of understanding into a more detailed agreement governing Iran's nuclear program and stockpile of enriched uranium.
The memorandum of understanding, signed by the United States and Iran, kicked off technical talks led by Vice President JD Vance in Switzerland and established the "minimum" acceptable terms for Iran's roughly 900-pound stockpile of uranium enriched to near-weapons grade as "downblending," or reducing the concentration of uranium through dilution.
The agreement leaves unanswered key questions about the ultimate fate of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile, including whether it will remain in Iran, be downblended, transferred to another country, or be destroyed altogether.
Neither side has publicly said whether they have reached an agreement on what will happen to the material, and the challenge of disposing of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile could be substantial, reminiscent of a covert operation in 1994 to remove highly enriched uranium from Kazakhstan.
The $672 million request is part of the administration's broader $80 billion supplemental funding package related to the Iran conflict and its aftermath, which is expected to cover military operations, replenishment of munitions stockpiles and other national security priorities stemming from the conflict.
