US troops storming a secretive, underground nuclear facility to seize Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium may sound far-fetched, but it is an option President Donald Trump is reportedly considering to achieve his main objective in the war: preventing the regime from developing nuclear weapons.
Such an operation would be extremely challenging and fraught with danger, according to military experts and former US defence officials. They warn that it would require the deployment of ground troops and could take several days or even weeks to complete.
Removing the uranium stockpile would be regarded as one of the most complicated special operations in history, remarked Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defence for Middle East affairs.
The scenario is just one of several military actions that Trump could contemplate in Iran, including taking control of Kharg Island and leveraging military threats to force Iran back to negotiations.
President Trump, in a recent interview, highlighted the challenges of declaring victory in the war without addressing Iran's enriched uranium, but tempered that with comments on the difficulty of accessing the material, noting that it is deeply buried and securely stored.
The complexities of such an operation are many. At the outset of the war, Iran was reported to possess approximately 440kg of uranium enriched to 60%, and attacks by US-Israeli joint forces previously targeted Iranian nuclear sites.
Amidst wartime strategies, experts emphasize the inherent risks, including potential responses from Iran and the logistics of securing and transporting the uranium from Iran's sophisticated underground facilities.
As military officials suggest the involvement of specialized forces for uranium retrieval, the ever-present question looms: How many obstacles could arise during such a high-stakes maneuver?
