Axios: The US Considers Ground Special Operations to Seize Iranian Nuclear Materials
The United States is studying the possibility of sending special forces to Iran to carry out specific missions, including seizing or neutralizing nuclear materials. According to sources within the Israeli Defense Forces and the Pentagon, such plans have been discussed long before the conflict broke out, and the Trump administration is seriously considering implementing them.
An American official said that the government had discussed two options: one was to transport the nuclear materials out of Iran, and the other was to send nuclear experts to dilute the uranium on-site. This operation may be carried out by special forces personnel and experts (possibly from the International Atomic Energy Agency).
Implementing this operation faces great difficulties: the exact location of the uranium material is still unclear.
The first problem is where exactly these materials are located. The second problem is how to get there and exert physical control over them. After that, Trump, the Pentagon, and the CIA will decide whether to physically transport them out or dilute them on-site.
Iran currently stores about 450 kilograms of uranium with a 60% enrichment level. This material can be purified to weapons-grade in just a few weeks. In addition, U.S. sources also discussed the possibility of occupying Khark Island and its strategic oil terminal, which accounts for about 90% of Iran's oil exports.
Micro-comment
450 kilograms of uranium with 60% enrichment is highly concentrated nuclear material, which indeed has the potential to manufacture a nuclear weapon in a short period of time. The U.S. plan is either to "move it away" (completely destroy the raw material) or to "dilute it on-site" (making it unable to be quickly converted).
The plan to occupy Khark Island is directly targeting Iran's economic lifeline. Controlling the island means cutting off 90% of Iran's oil exports, severely damaging the Iranian regime economically.
Iran's nuclear facilities are widely distributed and deeply underground, and the U.S. does not currently have the exact coordinates of all nuclear materials, making any "precision strike" carry a significant risk of misjudgment.
The plan mentions the possible involvement of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency. This is an attempt to give the operation "legitimacy" and "technical authority," aiming to frame it as "eliminating nuclear proliferation risks" rather than a simple act of war.
The exposure of this report suggests that the U.S.-Iran conflict is moving from the initial stage of "air strikes/decapitation operations" to a high-risk phase of "capturing core facilities."
Original: toutiao.com/article/1859088971668492/
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