Report: US special forces preparing potential raid to seize Iran’s enriched uranium

US special operations forces were preparing for a possible mission to seize enriched uranium from Iran’s fortified nuclear facilities, the New York Post reported, citing a source familiar with military planning and US security experts.

The operation could involve thousands of troops securing nuclear sites, clearing damaged or booby-trapped entrances and establishing protected routes to an airfield. A smaller team of special operators would then enter the facilities and remove the nuclear material, according to the report.

Joseph Rodgers, deputy director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told the Post that a military operation could become the most likely option if negotiations failed to produce an agreement on Iran’s uranium stockpile. He described any such mission as exceptionally complex and dangerous.

Potential targets included the damaged Fordo and Isfahan facilities, as well as the underground Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz, where Iran was reported to have transferred hundreds of centrifuges.

Iran had reinforced the Isfahan site and placed mines and explosives in its tunnels in anticipation of a possible raid, it is understood. US forces would need to maintain control of the surrounding area and airspace while construction crews reopened access points and transported the uranium.

Richard Goldberg, a former US National Security Council official, said a raid on Pickaxe Mountain could instead focus on infiltrating the site, placing explosives and withdrawing, if airstrikes alone were considered insufficient to destroy the facility.