United States President Donald Trump is alleged to be considering a military operation to extract approximately 1,000 pounds of uranium from Iran, according to an exclusive report by the Wall Street Journal.
According to a top US official, as quoted in the WSJ report, the operation is considered risky and complex and could keep American forces in Iran for days or longer.
Trump has stated that the US is going to get Iran’s enriched uranium by itself if there is a deal between the countries.
However, the WSJ report states that Trump hasn’t decided whether to give the order, given the danger the operation poses to the U.S. troops.
“It’s very easy. If we have a deal with them, we’re going down, and we’ll take it ourselves,” Trump responded to how the US will get Iran’s enriched uranium as he departed from a weekend in Florida, as reported by the PBS Newshour.
The president of the US has, under many circumstances, demanded that Iran not have nuclear weapons for a negotiation to take place between the states.
He also stated that the indirect talks between the United States and Iran via Pakistan were in progress.
In addition, Washington has urged its advisers to press Tehran to agree to surrender the material as a condition for ending the war, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
However, reports by Reuters indicated that Trump has hinted that some of his top aides have a different approach to the US’s dealings with the uranium in Iran.
Among those with a different approach, the US president has cited that his intelligence chief, Tulsi Gabbard, was softer than him on stopping Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
On the other hand, Iranian officials have publicly declared that no negotiations are ongoing despite Washington claiming that the Iranians are begging to make a deal with them.
In addition to the Trump-planned uranium seizure, Trump has stated that he is considering seizing Iran’s Kharg Island.
Also Read: Tough Moment for Trump as Americans Fear for Their Lives after He Warned of Massive Iran Bombing.
Trump’s military troop deployment
To seize the uranium from Iran, the US military officers and experts explained to WSJ that the potential operation would trigger retaliation from Iran.
According to former US military officers, the operation will likely prolong the war beyond the 4-6-week time frame publicly outlined by Trump’s team.
The troops will be required to secure the perimeters so that engineers with excavating equipment can search through debris to clear mines and booby traps.
An elite special operations team will be in place for the extraction of the uranium once the troops secure it.
According to the WSJ report, the highly enriched uranium is likely contained in 40 to 50 special cylinders.
Senior research scholar at Columbia University and a former nuclear negotiator with Iran, Richard Nephew, stated that trained personnel would be required to place the transportation casks on cylinders to protect against accidents.
He added that transporting the uranium from Iran could require a lot of space and fill several trucks, and that an airfield might be required.
Also Read: Fear as Trump is Warned of Grave Consequences for Escalating War as 10K Evacuated From Middle East
The Pentagon is reportedly planning to deploy up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Gulf, according to the US Central Command.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced last week that over 3,500 troops, including 2,500 Marines, had arrived in the Middle East.
Uranium in Iran
Previous attacks by the US had destroyed Iran’s nuclear infrastructure with bombs designed to reach deeply buried material.
Reports by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that despite the attack, Iran still maintains about 972 pounds of 60% enriched uranium.
Enrichment of the available uranium to 90% for high-yield military warheads remains a possibility for Iran.
