US Media: The US military has developed a plan to seize Iran's enriched uranium

According to a report by The Washington Post in the United States, the U.S. military has submitted a plan to President Trump to seize nearly 1,000 pounds (about 453.6 kilograms) of highly enriched uranium inside Iran. Experts believe the plan would be extremely difficult to carry out.

The report says that, according to two people familiar with the matter, the plan was submitted to Trump last week at his request and includes the risk points involved. The highly enriched uranium material in Iran is mainly stored in nuclear facilities in places such as Isfahan that were hit by U.S. airstrikes last June. At present, the access routes to the nuclear storage areas are still buried under rubble.

The report cites a person familiar with the matter as saying that in order to reach the nuclear storage facility in Isfahan, “first, excavation equipment must be delivered to the site to break through the concrete and lead protective layers,” as well as other protective structures; “then, it must go down to the bottom of the shaft to remove the containers containing the nuclear materials and airlift them out.”

Experts analyze that the plan would be very challenging to implement. It may need to begin by striking Iran’s defensive facilities and equipment to create safer passageways for ground forces, and then airlifting several hundred, or even several thousand, soldiers and heavy excavation equipment into the site, while building a runway so that cargo aircraft can transport these radioactive materials out. It is estimated that this process could take weeks or even months, and it must be carried out in Iran’s interior, in an environment where there is a threat of firepower. At the same time, personnel involved also face the risk of leakage of radioactive materials.

According to a report by The New York Times on March 29, hundreds of U.S. special forces soldiers have arrived in the Middle East. U.S. officials said these special forces will operate jointly with the Marine Corps and paratroopers in actions that could involve Iran’s nuclear facilities, as well as efforts to secure control of the Strait of Hormuz or to seize Iran’s oil export hub, Kharg Island. ( Xinhua News Agency )