WASHINGTON – US president Donald Trump is reportedly considering a high-risk military operation to send over US troops into Iran to try and secure or disable an estimated 440–450 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, a level that puts it close to weapons-grade material.
Military experts warn the scale of such an operation would be significant.
Estimates suggest more than 1,000 personnel could be needed per site, backed by engineering teams capable of breaching reinforced structures and recovering sensitive material.
Continuous air cover would likely be essential to shield ground forces from Iranian defenses.
Analysts say the complexity—and risk—of the mission underscores why it remains a contingency rather than an imminent move.
Three weeks into the war the path to an end remains murky.
Asked Sunday whether he was ready to declare victory, Trump brushed off the idea: “No, I don’t want to do that. There’s no reason to.”
Analysts say the conflict is unfolding in ways Washington didn’t fully anticipate.
Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace argues Iran signaled early it would widen the fight beyond its borders.
Tehran has since followed through—targeting Gulf states and threatening critical waterways, including the Strait of Hormuz.
Sadjadpour says those moves should not have come as a surprise, despite indications that the escalation caught the White House off guard.
“President Trump said that that took him by surprise when Iran started to attack the Persian Gulf countries or close down the Strait of Hormuz.”
“I don’t think President Trump, in his own words frankly, understood what he was getting into,” Sadjadpour told NPR.
