Merve Berker
08 March 2026•Update: 08 March 2026
ANKARA
The US and Israel have discussed sending special operations forces into Iran to secure the country’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium during a later phase of the war, media reports said Saturday.
Officials said the discussions focused on preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, according to Axios.
Iran is reportedly believed to possess about 450 kilograms (about 992 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60%, which could be converted to weapons-grade material within weeks.
Any operation would likely require US or Israeli troops entering heavily fortified underground nuclear facilities inside Iran.
It remains unclear whether such a mission would be done by American forces, Israeli troops, or a joint team.
At a congressional briefing on Tuesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was asked about securing the enriched uranium.
“People are going to have to go and get it,” Rubio said, without specifying who would carry out the operation.
2 main options
A US official said two main options have been discussed.
One would involve removing the uranium from Iran entirely, while the other would bring nuclear experts to dilute the material at the site.
The mission could involve special operations personnel working alongside nuclear specialists, possibly including experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
After an attack on three nuclear facilities in Iran last June, President Donald Trump said US forces had "totally obliterated" Iran's nuclear program, but last Sunday said Tehran was “two weeks” away from developing a nuclear weapon.
On Saturday, Trump also said the deployment of US ground forces was possible under certain circumstances.
“If we ever did that, (the Iranians) would be so decimated that they wouldn't be able to fight on the ground level,” Trump told reporters on board Air Force One.
Asked whether troops might be sent specifically to secure nuclear material, he said: “At some point maybe we will. We haven't gone after it. We wouldn't do it now. Maybe we will do it later.”
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “wisely keeps all options available to him open.”
A senior US official said the discussions focused on limited special operations missions rather than a large troop deployment.
“Small special ops raids — not a big force going in,” one source said, according to Axios.
