Trump denies cash-for-Uranium deal as Iran rejects shipping enriched Uranium abroad

U.S. President Donald Trump has denied reports that his country is considering unfreezing up to 20 billion U.S. dollars of Iranian assets in exchange for Iran to give up its enriched uranium stockpile, as Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson rejected any plan to ship its enriched uranium out of the country.

In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump claimed the United States would obtain all of Iran's enriched uranium, which he referred to as "nuclear dust" created by U.S. B2 bombers, without making any payment. "No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form," Trump wrote.

However, U.S. media reported Friday that American officials were preparing to unfreeze 20 billion dollars of Iranian funds as part of a three-page draft ceasefire memorandum currently under negotiation between the two sides. The proposed cash-for-uranium arrangement is among the key provisions being discussed, according to Axios.

Earlier in the talks, the U.S. side had reportedly offered to unfreeze 6 billion dollars for humanitarian purchases, while Iran sought 27 billion dollars. The latest figure under discussion is 20 billion dollars, sources said.   Trump dismissed the reports in an interview on Friday, calling them "totally false" and insisting that no money was changing hands. He said Iran had agreed to indefinitely suspend its nuclear program without receiving any frozen funds, and claimed Washington would work with Tehran to excavate the country's enriched uranium and transport it back to the United States.

U.S. officials had initially demanded that all nuclear material be shipped to the United States, but Iran has only agreed to dilute the material within its own territory. Under a compromise proposal, some highly enriched uranium could be sent to a third country, not necessarily the United States.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Friday that Russia is open to storing Iran's enriched uranium, but the United States has shown no interest in the option.

Meanwhile, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) on Friday that Iran rejects any plan to ship its enriched uranium abroad. He said compensation for damage inflicted on Iran remains a critical issue in the talks, and that there is no ambiguity left regarding the matters under negotiation.

Trump denies cash-for-Uranium deal as Iran rejects shipping enriched Uranium abroad

Teams attending the 2026 humanoid robot half-marathon are racing to fine-tune every detail before hitting the course on Sunday.

As the world's first humanoid robot marathon, this year's event will see a record 112 teams taking part, including five international teams from countries including Germany, France and Brazil.

Co-hosted by the Beijing Municipal People's Government and China Media Group, the event covers two main categories – autonomous navigation and remote control – with autonomous navigation teams accounting for nearly 40 percent of the total.

One week ago, a full-scale test of the event has already been conducted in Beijing's E-Town Economic and Technological Development Area.

"Really impressive! When I see what they've done in the first marathon that happened last year and what we saw this year, I'm impressed by the advancements that have been made. Last year, some robots had some hard time to just stay standing, but now this year almost every robot is able to stand. And they all focus on performances and that's very exciting," said Etienne, a member of Paris-Saclay University Team.

The 21-kilometer race route covers more than 10 types of terrain including flat ground, slopes, curves, and narrow sections. It features 12 left turns and 10 right turns, including several near-90-degree curves, providing complex environment for robots to test their adaptation and decision-making capabilities.

"This event requires robots to achieve such high mobility autonomously on the course, which poses a significant test of their agility. Even for humans, executing sharp turns under such complex conditions is quite challenging. For robots, this setup further increases the technical difficulty and challenge," said Zhao Mingguo, a researcher at the Department of Automation of Tsinghua University.

Humanoid robots gear up for Beijing half-marathon