President Trump is considering a military operation to send US soldiers inside Iran to extract nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium from Iran, officials said.
Trump is open to the idea of sending the troops into Iran for days or longer to complete the mission, but the president is considering the risks to American soldiers, US officials familiar with the plan told the Wall Street Journal.
As he weighs the dangers of the operation, Trump has encouraged his advisers to pressure Iran to agree to give up its atomic material as a condition for ending the war, according to the outlet.’
The president and at least some members of his administration believe it would be possible for ground forces to seize Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles in a way that would not extend the war, which officials hope would be completed by mid-April, the WSJ reported.
Iran’s uranium stockpiles are believed to be housed in Iran’s underground facilities in Isfahan and Natanz, according to International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi.
Isfahan, located 270 miles south of Tehran, is believed to be where the majority of Tehran’s 60% enriched uranium is located, with Natanz likely holding additional caches of uranium in its fortified Pickaxe Mountain facility.
Little is known about that nuclear facility, with Israeli outlets reporting that it could be about 330 feet below the mountain base, more than 30 feet deeper into the ground than Iran’s Fordow fuel enrichment plant.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi claimed the uranium remains buried under rubble following US-Israel joint strikes last June.
Both sites are deep inside Iran, which would mean US forces would need to dodge the country’s remaining drones and missiles to reach the complexes.
Soldiers would also likely face mines and booby traps while trying to get engineers with excavating equipment to reach the nuclear material.
Retired Gen. Joseph Votel, the former commander of US Central Command and US Special Operations Command, warned that such an operation would take days or even a week to complete.
“This is not a quick in and out kind of deal,” he told the WSJ.
As the president mulls the risks of the operation, the Pentagon has continued to bolster America’s military presence in the Middle East, with the Defense Department considering the deployment of 10,000 additional ground troops.
More than 3,500 sailors and Marines arrived in the region over the weekend aboard the USS Tripoli.
