Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, two senior Iranian sources said, hardening Tehran’s stance on one of the main U.S. demands at peace talks.

Also read: Israel-Iran war updates on May 21, 2026

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s order could further frustrate U.S. President Donald Trump and complicate talks on ending the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Israeli officials have said that Mr. Trump has assured Israel that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, needed to make an atomic weapon, will be sent out of Iran and that any peace deal must include a clause on this.

“The Supreme Leader’s directive, and the consensus within the establishment, is that the stockpile of enriched uranium should not leave the country,” said one of the two Iranian sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Iran’s top officials, the sources said, believe that sending the material abroad would leave the country more vulnerable to future attacks by the United States and Israel. Mr. Khamenei has the last say on the most important state matters.

Meanwhile, Iran’s new body overseeing the Strait of Hormuz said its claimed area of control extends to Emirati waters, drawing a sharp rebuke from the Gulf neighbour.

In a post on X on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) accompanied by a map, the newly-established Persian Gulf Strait Authority said it had outlined “the regulatory jurisdiction for the management” of the strait.

It said this covered the area between the line extending from “Kuh-e Mubarak in Iran to the south of Fujairah in the UAE... to the line connecting the tip of Qeshm island in Iran to Umm Al-Quwain in the UAE.”

It added that “transit through this area for the purpose of passing through the Hormuz Strait requires coordination with, and authorisation from, the Persian Gulf Strait Authority”.

(With AFP and Reuters inputs)