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.

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.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday (May 21, 2026) returned to a more definitive tone on controlling Iran’s uranium.

Last week, Mr. Trump suggested that he might be OK with some 970 pounds of highly enriched uranium believed to be buried beneath Iranian nuclear facilities that were targeted by U.S. military strikes last year remaining entombed under those sites.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday (May 21, 2026) renewed criticism of NATO for not supporting the U.S. war on Iran, as he headed to alliance talks in Sweden. 

“There are many countries in NATO that agree with us that Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon, that Iran is a threat to the world,” Mr. Rubio told reporters in Miami before leaving for the talks among NATO Foreign Ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden. 

Republicans struggled Thursday (May 21, 2026) to find the votes to dismiss legislation that would compel President Donald Trump to withdraw from the war with Iran, delaying planned votes on the matter into June.

The House had scheduled a vote on a war powers resolution, brought by Democrats, that would rein in Mr. Trump’s military campaign. But as it became clear that Republicans would not have the numbers to defeat the bill, GOP leaders declined to hold a vote on it.

President Donald Trump on Thursday (May 21, 2026) said the U.S. will send an additional 5,000 troops to Poland, stirring confusion following weeks of changing statements from Mr. Trump and his administration about reducing — not increasing — the American military footprint in Europe.

NATO’s European members will look to sound out U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Washington’s troop cuts on Friday (May 22, 2026), as they seek to smooth over President Donald Trump’s ire ahead of a July summit.

The meeting of alliance Foreign Ministers in the Swedish city of Helsingborg comes after the U.S. leader lashed out at Europe over its response to his war on Iran — and threatened he could consider quitting NATO.

-AFP

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope of progress on ending the war with Iran, as he looked to Pakistani mediators to help advance efforts to strike an agreement.

Previous comments by President Donald Trump had suggested weeks of stop-start negotiations to strike a permanent end to the war were teetering on the “borderline” between a deal and renewed attacks.