It\u2019s the nuclear option.<\/p>\n
American Special Operations forces are waiting in the wings to launch the \u201cmost sophisticated operation in military history\u201d to seize Iran\u2019s enriched uranium from heavily fortified nuclear sites.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hate to say it, but I think the most likely way to get rid of Iran\u2019s nuclear material, at least what they currently have, is a military operation because the negotiations aren\u2019t going anywhere fast,\u201d said Joseph Rodgers, deputy director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n
The deeply complex operation would involve thousands of ground troops storming Iran\u2019s nuclear facilities \u2014 navigating boobytraps, utilizing construction crews, and maintaining a large defensive blocking force surrounding the sites \u2014 a source familiar with military planning told The Post on Friday.<\/p>\n
A Special Forces operation that would snatch the uranium out of Iran would be \u201cthe most sophisticated operation in military history,\u201d according to an expert. USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20)<\/p>\n
From there, a small team of special operators would conduct the actual retrieval \u2014 a \u201chighly dangerous\u201d process, the person said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this would be one of the most, if not the most, sophisticated operations in military history<\/a>,\u201d said Rodgers.<\/p>\n \u201cThis would be a logistically heavy and difficult operation in a contested environment. Iran\u2019s military is pretty destroyed, but they\u2019re still more sophisticated than the Cubans that were guarding Maduro.\u201d<\/p>\n The group of special operators could include SEAL Team 6\u2019s Silver Squadron, the 2nd Ranger Battalion, and the Army\u2019s 21st Ordnance Company, according to a report from plugged-in independent outlet The High Side.<\/p>\n The 21st Ordnance Company would be responsible for handling and transporting the whatever quantity of enriched uranium<\/a> out of facilities from the mostly destroyed Fordo facility and the severely damaged Isfahan facility, according to the report.<\/p>\n The IAEA reported in 2025<\/a> that Iran had upwards of 20,000 pounds of enriched uranium.<\/p>\n The remotely located and well guarded Isfahan nuclear facility has been outfitted with boobytraps in recent weeks as the Iranians prepare for a potential invasion seeking to confiscate enriched uranium. Satellite image \u00a92026 Vantor via AP<\/p>\n \u201cYou need to create a secure perimeter around all of the sites that you\u2019re trying to go in and grab the material from. That would require ground forces to secure a perimeter and then create a secure convoy route to the airstrip,\u201d said Rodgers.<\/p>\n US military crews would have to dig out the destroyed entrances of the sites while holding off attacks from the Iranian military<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cSo how long can you sustain that and still be able to exfiltrate all of your forces?\u201d said Richard Goldberg, who served as director for countering Iranian weapons of mass destruction for the White House National Security Council in the first Trump administration.<\/p>\n The mission would further require complete control of a corridor of airspace that would allow the military to fly to a secure location.<\/p>\n Iran has been preparing for an attack on the Isfahan facility.<\/p>\n A member of the 21st Ordnance Company (pictured) would \u201cWe have seen reports of Iran hardening the facility at Isfahan, booby traps being laid, and potentially perimeter forces being stationed,\u201d said Goldberg.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no element of surprise at the moment. The targets are fixed. We know where they are. The Iranians know where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n Iran has placed mines and explosives in the tunnels of the Isfahan facility in anticipation of a raid on the facility, according to a CNN report<\/a> last month.<\/p>\n The facility at Pickaxe Mountain in Natanz is now allegedly housing hundreds of Iranian regime centrifuges. DigitalGlobe\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
supposedly be tasked with grabbing the uranium at the sites in Iran. 20th CBRNE Command<\/p>\n