President Donald Trump is considering an operation to seize some 1,000 pounds of enriched uranium in Iran, which would require sending ground troops to the country for days or longer, according to a new report.
The Wall Street Journal detailed that Trump has not made a final decision on the matter but remains generally open to the idea because he seeks to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Before the U.S. and Israel bombed the country in June 2025, Iran was believed to have more than 400 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% and 200 kilograms of 20% fissile material, which can easily be turned into 90% weapons-grade uranium.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt did not deny the possibility, saying "it's the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the commander-in-chief maximum optionality."
The outlet interviewed former military officers and experts who said such an operation would be extremely challenging and could extend the war beyond the timeline outlined by Trump.
Concretely, troops would need to fly to the sites, likely under Iranian fire, secure perimeters to allow engineers to access the materials and defend them from Iranian attacks. Sites could also be filled with mines and booby traps. Such an operation would likely need to be carried out by an elite special operations team.
Moreover, if an airfield is not readily available, troops would need to build a makeshift one to bring equipment and then remove the material. All of that could take up to a week to complete.
In the meantime, Trump threatened to target Iranian energy infrastructure if a deal is not reached soon. "The United States of America is in serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran," Trump said in a social media post.
"Great progress has been made but, if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached, which it probably will be, and if the Hormuz Strait is not immediately 'Open for Business,' we will conclude our lovely 'stay' in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched,'" he added.
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