Pentagon Revives Plan to Seize Iranian Enriched Uranium

The United States Department of Defense is developing contingency plans for a large-scale ground operation to capture or destroy enriched uranium stockpiles within Iran. The proposed mission targets heavily fortified underground facilities at Fordow, Isfahan, and the Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz, the latter of which is believed to be located over 300 feet underground. This planning follows 13 days of mutual strikes triggered by an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps attack on U.S. service members in Jordan on July 17.

The operation would deploy thousands of personnel, including conventional forces to secure perimeters and tactical teams from the Navy SEALs and Army Rangers to extract materials. The 21st Ordnance Company would handle the transport of nuclear materials, which could involve constructing a runway to export approximately 450 kilograms of highly enriched uranium. In response, Iran has reportedly hardened the Isfahan facility by installing mines and explosives in tunnels.

President Donald Trump is weighing the proposal amid concerns that Iranian leader Mojtaba Khamenei is open to pursuing an advanced nuclear weapon. While Trump previously rejected such a mission to avoid a failure similar to the 1980 Operation Eagle Claw, the Pentagon has revived the strategy as an alternative to airstrikes. Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claims its retaliatory "Operation Nasr II" killed more than 200 U.S. military personnel, though the Pentagon has not independently verified these figures.