Iran’s Mohsen Rezaei Rules Out Uranium Exports, Claims Drone Captures and Proposes Eight-Nation Gulf Union

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran would not send any enriched nuclear material abroad, claimed major battlefield gains against U.S. forces and proposed a security and economic alliance among eight Persian Gulf states in a wide-ranging interview with Al Mayadeen. ⠀ “Not even the smallest particle of enriched material will leave Iran,” he said, explaining that Tehran was designing nuclear-powered ships and submarines and might develop small modular reactors. Iran had informed Russia of its position, he added. ⠀ Rezaei claimed Iranian electronic warfare forces had captured seven American drones intact and seized two advanced underwater craft capable, he said, of diving to 6,000 meters. He also criticized U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth as “inexperienced,” arguing that Iranian commanders had outperformed their American and Israeli counterparts. The war had shown that “faith comes before technology,” he said, praising Iranian missile crews over expensive F-35 aircraft and AWACS systems. ⠀ He dismissed the prospect of a new U.S.-Israeli attack as a short, largely symbolic operation, claiming Washington was considering bombing a mountain believed to contain nuclear facilities. Any new attack, he warned, could bring Iranian strikes on U.S. military bases in Europe and distant islands. He urged countries hosting American forces not to allow their territory to be used against Iran. ⠀ Rezaei said Tehran wanted to impose a cost on Washington that would deter future attacks and secure Iranian rights. He also accused Israel of threatening Türkiye and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, claiming that Iran and allied armed groups had prevented Israeli domination of several regional countries. ⠀ Alongside those threats, he proposed a Persian Gulf union comprising Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, with cooperation on security and trade. He said Iran was open to working with Arab neighbors and asserted that its previous strikes had targeted only U.S. bases, without harming Arab civilians. ⠀ Rezaei said Russian President Vladimir Putin had told U.S. officials that Iran’s political system could not be overthrown. He also said he had put on his Revolutionary Guards uniform again when the war began and asked supporters to pray that he would die a martyr while wearing it.