Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei declared on 19 April that the country's enriched uranium is "as sacred as Iranian soil" and that transfer to the United States "was never presented as an option under consideration"1. His full line, carried by the Farsi daily Entekhab: "To the same extent that Iranian soil is sacred, enriched uranium is likewise sacred."
The statement is a direct public rejection of President Donald Trump's 17 April claim that Iran had agreed to a uranium handover. The Foreign Ministry, the civilian arm of Iran's government, is the institutional voice most sensitive to hardliner audiences at home and to IRGC-adjacent media. Its red line must hold publicly. Baqaei drew that line in terms Tehran's domestic audience can hear without objection and that foreign counterparts cannot walk back in private.
Iran's 440.9 kg stockpile at 60 per cent purity has gone unverified by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since the 11 April Majlis vote to suspend cooperation2. Baqaei chose a religious register as well as a diplomatic one. It treats the stockpile as national patrimony, which in Iran's political culture places it beyond the reach of transfer on a diplomatic schedule. The US 15-point plan anchors on HEU (highly enriched uranium) removal; Baqaei's statement removes the anchor.
