American intelligence agencies have confirmed that Iran can now access its main store of highly enriched uranium, even though it was buried under the nuclear site at Isfahan by U.S. strikes last year. This means the uranium, a key material needed to build a nuclear weapon, is once again within Iran’s reach.
With Iran already in chaos due to ongoing U.S. and Israeli strikes, securing this uranium has become a critical issue for the Trump administration. According to The New York Times, President Trump is now openly considering a commando raid to grab the uranium, though he said he would not do it immediately.
Officials familiar with the intelligence said Iran can now reach the uranium through a very narrow access point. The uranium is stored in gas form inside canisters, and it is unclear how quickly Iran could move it. U.S. officials say they are confident they could detect and respond to any attempt by Iran or other groups to move the material.
A commando raid remains on the table, but Iran would need to be weakened further first
When asked on Air Force One whether he would send in ground forces to secure the uranium, Trump said, “Right now we’re just decimating them, but we haven’t gone after it. But something we could do later on. We wouldn’t do it now.” He also suggested that before such an operation, Iran would need to be so weakened that they “wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level.”
Trump has also been vocal about his broader options for handling Iran’s future as the conflict continues. Any ground operation, likely involving Special Operations commandos, would be extremely risky. U.S. officials noted that the air campaign would need to continue for several more days to weaken Iranian defenses before any final decision on such a raid could be made. A senior official confirmed that a commando raid is not part of the current plan.
It is also possible that the open threat of a ground operation is meant to pressure Iran into giving up its stockpile as part of a deal to end the conflict. The U.S. chose not to retrieve the uranium after the 12-day war last year, when Iran’s nuclear sites were heavily bombed. At the time, Trump decided it was too dangerous.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the decision to go to war was partly driven by Iran burying its nuclear and missile programs so deep underground they would be “immune to any assault.”
Iran holds about 970 pounds of highly enriched uranium, with most of it at Isfahan, according to American officials. The stockpile has been enriched to 60 percent. While it would need to reach 90 percent enrichment to be used in a weapon, that final step is relatively simple if Iran’s centrifuges are working.
Pentagon policy chief Elbridge Colby said, “Without getting into any specifics, obviously we’re always highly focused on that.” Meanwhile, Americans stranded in the Middle East during the conflict have reported being left to find their own way out.
Before U.S. strikes last June, Iranian officials pushed dirt into tunnel entrances at Isfahan to protect the site. The U.S. then hit the base with Tomahawk cruise missiles, while larger Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs were used at other underground facilities.
Shortly after, spy satellites spotted Iran moving excavation equipment to Isfahan and digging out the tunnels. Satellite images from February also showed heavy machinery moving dirt near the facility, and researchers at the Institute for Science and International Security reported increased activity near the tunnel entrances earlier this year.
Published: Mar 8, 2026 03:45 pm