Putin’s nuclear move raises big Iran question: Is Pakistan just the venue while Russia gets Uranium?

Russia is trying to turn the Iran nuclear crisis into a geopolitical opening. As U.S.–Iran talks stall over how to handle Tehran’s growing stockpile of near‑weapons‑grade uranium, Moscow is openly offering to step in as “custodian” of the material. Rosatom chief Aleksey Likhachev says Russia is ready to once again remove enriched uranium from Iran, citing its role in 2015 and arguing that only Moscow combines the technical capacity and political trust to do it safely. The Kremlin has confirmed that Washington previously rejected this offer, even as Trump’s team demands that Iran dismantle key nuclear facilities and ship its uranium abroad. Tehran has drawn red lines of its own, refusing to hand any material to the U.S., signalling conditional openness to external storage in Russia, and floating an alternative plan to downblend uranium under international supervision while demanding sanctions relief and guarantees against another U.S. walkout. With the IAEA estimating Iran holds more than 400 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium enough for multiple bombs if further refined—who ultimately holds that stockpile has become a power contest between Washington, Moscow, and Tehran.