Seizing Iran’s uranium could take ‘largest special forces operation in history’ – WSJ

A military operation to seize Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium would require “the largest special forces operation in history,” The Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US and Israeli security experts.

When American and Israeli fighter jets bombed three of the Islamic Republic’s key nuclear sites last June, the regime was believed to have had some 440 kilograms of 60 percent-enriched uranium — a short step away from weapons-grade material, enough for an estimated ten nuclear bombs.

Another almost 200 kilograms, at 20% enriched, were also believed to be in the regime’s possession. Weapons-grade uranium is 90%-enriched.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said last week that around half of the 60%-enriched uranium was stored in a tunnel complex at the Isfahan nuclear site. A report earlier this month said the US believes there is a “very narrow access point” through which the material could potentially be retrieved.

Seizing the uranium amid the war would require a major operation, which former NATO commander James Stavridis told the Journal could be “the largest special operations forces in history.”

The daily, citing former military officials, reported that upward of 1,000 military personnel would have to be present on-site.

Combat troops would need to secure perimeters while engineers dug through tons of debris while checking for mines and booby traps, the newspaper reported.

To deliver the equipment to the site and move the recovered material out of the country, a local airfield would be required, and if none was available, a makeshift airfield would have to be set up as part of the operation, the report said.

And forces would likely come under drone and missile fire, requiring ground forces and planes to ward off the attacks.

Also noted in the report was the possibility of diluting or destroying the material rather than removing it, though this would bring the risk of contaminating the area.

On Sunday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told CBS: “Our nuclear facilities were attacked, and everything is under the rubble.”

He said the regime has no plan to recover the material, but also that it is not willing to negotiate about the stockpile’s future while under fire.

US President Donald Trump, asked last week if there is a plan in place to seize the stockpiled uranium, told Fox News radio, “No, not at all.”

“We’re not focused on that. But at some point we might be,” he said. “Right now we’re focused on knocking the hell out of their missiles and their drones.”

A longstanding dispute over Iran’s nuclear program escalated into military conflict on February 28, with the US and Israel launching strikes against Iran and the Islamic Republic responding with attacks across the Middle East.

Tehran, which routinely calls for the destruction of Israel, maintains that its nuclear program is for purely civilian purposes. However, before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium to levels far beyond what’s necessary for any peaceful application, and consistently obstructed international inspectors from checking its facilities. Israel has also said Iran was taking steps toward weaponization.

Agencies contributed to this report.