As the war between the United States and Israel and Iran entered its 10th day, the United States and Israel were reported to be discussing and reviewing an operation to deploy special forces into Iran to secure Iran's highly enriched uranium. The move is seen as aimed at fundamentally blocking Iran's potential to develop nuclear weapons.
On the 7th (local time), U.S. internet outlet Axios reported, citing multiple sources with knowledge, that the United States and Israel discussed and reviewed a special operation in the latter phase of the war to secure Iran's highly enriched uranium.
The core goal of the United States and Israel is to secure 450 kilograms of 60% enriched uranium held by Iran. That is enough to make 11 nuclear bombs. Sixty percent enriched uranium is considered near-weapons grade, because it can be enriched to weapons-grade 90% within just a few weeks.
Most of Iran's highly enriched uranium remains in underground tunnels at the Isfahan nuclear facility that the United States and Israel destroyed last year. Some appears to be dispersed at the Fordow and Natanz nuclear facilities. At the time, U.S. President Donald Trump judged that attempting to secure Iran's uranium was too risky and did not try it.
Both options of completely removing the uranium outside Iran and lowering its enrichment level on site are said to be under discussion. In particular, scientists from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are also known to be likely to participate in this operation. However, Axios reported that the actual operation is more likely to be carried out in the latter phase of the war, when it is judged that the Iranian military's response capability has been greatly weakened.
In particular, it has not yet been specified whether this operation will be carried out by U.S. forces or Israeli forces, or as a joint mission. Within the United States, there are said to be assessments that the process of securing uranium presents no small number of technical and military challenges.
President Trump, aboard Air Force One (the presidential plane) that day, was asked by a reporter whether the military might be deployed to secure nuclear material, and said, "At some point, we probably could," while adding, "Not right now." He added, "If we do, they will be so badly damaged that they won't even be able to conduct a ground war."
The New York Times (NYT) also reported that, as in President Trump's remarks, the decision on whether to deploy ground troops to secure uranium has not yet been made, but the U.S. government is reviewing various options. In this situation, U.S. intelligence agencies were said to assess that Iran might also attempt to access underground areas of the Isfahan nuclear facility to retrieve highly enriched uranium.
According to the NYT, U.S. intelligence agencies are continuously monitoring this facility by satellite. Authorities judge that if Iran approaches the facility, it would access the uranium through a narrow access corridor. U.S. officials were said to have been discussing various options for securing Iran's uranium or blocking Iran's access for weeks before the start of the current Iranian airstrikes.