The United States should not expand the weaponry of the People’s Republic of China as a means of reducing the weaponry of the Islamic Republic of Iran. I’m no expert, but it can’t be right that enhancing one enemy’s ability to kill you is the best way to degrade another enemy’s ability to kill you.
But somebody in the PRC talking to somebody talking to Newsweek seems to be suggesting just this sort of thing when it comes to highly enriched Iranian uranium (April 17, 2026).
China has signaled it is open to taking custody of or downgrading Iran’s enriched uranium as part of a potential deal to end the war, a diplomat familiar with Beijing’s thinking told the Associated Press.
The move comes as the Trump administration pushes for Iran’s uranium stockpile to be removed and as negotiations intensify over how to enforce any agreement without further escalation.
If China takes on a formal role, it could reshape nuclear diplomacy with Iran, giving Beijing greater influence in the outcome while offering Washington and Tehran a possible path forward….
If China were to take custody of Iranian nuclear material or down‑blend it for civilian use, the move would elevate Beijing’s diplomatic profile while potentially easing pressure on Washington.
We can’t believe anything Iranian government officials say. We also can’t believe anything Chinese Communist Party officials say. So if Xi Jinping et al. say “Sure, we’ll down-blend it, and sure, we will give you enough access from beginning of handover to end of all down-blending procedures and ultimate disposition of final product to make sure this happens,” this is not an assurance that the Trump administration can count on.
But Newsweek is treating all this as perfectly reasonable—after all, the Iranians once turned over 25,000 pounds of low-enriched uranium to the Russians, says Newsweek. This is not a persuasive Obama-era precedent. Russia has the facilities needed to turn low-enriched uranium into highly enriched uranium. What people are worried about right now is Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Highly enriched uranium is closer to being ready to use in nuclear weapons than low-enriched uranium.
What about other Iranian weapons? Machine guns, tanks, cat o’ nine tails? If the PRC, which is not an ally of the United States, said “Hey, we’ll take them off Iran’s hands to help end this war,” would Newsweek also be musing about all the feasible ponder-worthy possibilities?
