The United States is considering a large-scale special military operation to seize Iran’s stockpiles of enriched uranium from fortified nuclear sites if diplomatic efforts fail. The plan would involve thousands of ground troops and elite special operators to secure facilities and transport nuclear material out of the country.
American Special Operations forces are reportedly on standby for what experts describe as the most sophisticated operation in military history. The objective is the removal of enriched uranium from heavily fortified Iranian sites, a move that becomes a primary consideration as diplomatic negotiations fail to produce rapid progress.
Logistical Requirements and Elite Unit Deployment
The proposed mission is not a simple raid but a logistically heavy endeavor requiring a massive security footprint. According to a source familiar with military planning cited by the nypost.com, the operation would require thousands of ground troops to storm nuclear facilities, navigate boobytraps, and maintain a defensive blocking force to protect the site perimeter.
Once a secure perimeter is established, small teams of special operators would conduct the actual retrieval of the uranium. The specific units identified for this mission include SEAL Team 6’s Silver Squadron and the 2nd Ranger Battalion. Technical handling of the hazardous material would fall to the Army’s 21st Ordnance Company, which is tasked with the transport of the uranium out of the country.
Joseph Rodgers, deputy director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, stated that a secure perimeter must be created around all sites from which material is being retrieved, which would require ground forces to secure that perimeter and then establish a secure convoy route to the airstrip.
The scale of the target is significant. The IAEA reported in 2025 that Iran possessed upwards of 20,000 pounds of enriched uranium.
Fortified Targets: Isfahan, Fordo, and Pickaxe Mountain
The operation focuses on several key sites, each presenting different tactical challenges. The Isfahan facility has been specifically outfitted with boobytraps and mines in its tunnels in recent weeks. 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, noted that Iran has hardened this facility and stationed additional perimeter forces.
The mission would also target the mostly destroyed Fordo facility. However, a new point of interest has emerged at Pickaxe Mountain in Natanz, where reports indicate Iran has transported hundreds of nuclear centrifuges in the last month.
Goldberg suggests that the determination on whether airstrikes would be sufficient relies on US intelligence community knowledge on the schematics and weak points of the building — much like the bunker busters which targeted the Achille’s heel airshaft of the heavily fortified Fordo. A ground mission at Pickaxe Mountain would be necessary if the facility cannot be destroyed via airstrike.
Strategic Risks and the Loss of Surprise
The primary risk for U.S. forces is the “exfiltration” phase—the ability to maintain a defensive position long enough to safely remove all troops and the seized material. Because the targets are fixed and known to both sides, the element of surprise has largely vanished.
Joseph Rodgers, deputy director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, expressed that while he dislikes saying it, he believes a military operation is the most likely way to eliminate Iran’s current nuclear material because negotiations are not progressing quickly.
Despite the risks, analysts suggest the operational environment may be more favorable than in the past. Rodgers observes that Iran’s military is pretty destroyed, but they’re still more sophisticated than the Cubans that were guarding Maduro.
For the operation to succeed, the U.S. would need to establish complete control over a corridor of airspace that would allow the military to fly to a secure location.
The central uncertainty remains whether the U.S. can sustain a ground perimeter and secure a convoy route in a contested environment without triggering a wider escalation, given that Iran is already actively prepping its facilities for such a raid.
