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US & Israel said to weigh special forces op to secure Iran's nuclear stockpile as Trump refuses to rule out use of ground troops

On March 8, 2026, All Israel News published US & Israel said to weigh special forces op to secure Iran's nuclear stockpile as Trump refuses to rule out use of ground troops. The article says the United States and Israel are discussing a special-forces raid to reach Iran's buried uranium. For an American family, the question is simple. Would this war stay in the air, or would Americans be sent onto Iranian ground?

Background for new readers: On 28 February 2026 the United States and Israel began a joint air war on Iran. The Pentagon calls its part Operation Epic Fury; Israel calls its part Operation Roaring Lion. It came eight months after a shorter war in June 2025, when US bombers hit Iran's nuclear sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan. The question running through this section is whether the air war turns into American soldiers fighting on Iranian soil. This article is filed under Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid; the full article index lists every article on this shelf.

Evidence rating: MODERATE. The article relays Axios's unnamed US officials and quotes President Donald Trump directly: "Everything is on the table. Everything."

What the article says​

All Israel News, citing Axios, reports that U.S. and Israeli officials are looking at options to send in special forces. The article says the target is about 450 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent, stored as gas in canisters. It says most of that material is at Isfahan, and the rest is split between Natanz and Fordow. Those are Iranian nuclear sites. The article says U.S. strikes in June 2025, which it calls Operation Midnight Hammer, buried the uranium and destroyed nearly all the centrifuges that could enrich it further.

Citing the New York Times, the article says U.S. intelligence believes the Isfahan uranium could still be reached through a narrow tunnel. It says one option under discussion is a special-forces raid. It also says that raid would presumably require a larger operation first, to secure the area around the site before anyone removed the uranium.

The article says Trump told ABC News on Sunday, "Everything is on the table. Everything." It says he added that if the United States ever did send people in, the other side would have to be so decimated that they could not fight at ground level. It says officials thought the air campaign would need several more days before anyone could tell whether a ground operation was even feasible.

Boots on the ground for Trump is not the same as what it means for the media.

A senior U.S. official said that to Axios, All Israel News reported on March 8, 2026. Another source described "small special ops raids – not a big force going in." A third source said, "People think Fallujah. That's not what has been discussed." Fallujah was a 2004 battle in Iraq in which U.S. troops fought house to house inside a city. The article uses that line to say planners were not discussing a battle of that kind. The same source said what had been discussed "hasn't been thought of in terms of boots on the ground."

The article says a ground operation, if one were launched, could carry the uranium out or dilute it on site. It quotes a U.S. official saying that choice would belong to the president, the Department of War, and the CIA. It says the work would likely need specialists, including scientists from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the agency that inspects nuclear sites.

The rest of the article is about Israel's own strikes. It quotes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the timing of the war was influenced by Iran moving nuclear and missile work underground. It also describes an Israeli strike on an underground site near Tehran.

What other reporting adds​

The same day, from Israel's ambassador. Israel's ambassador to the United States, Michael Leiter, told CBS's Face the Nation on 8 March: "If that includes putting boots on the ground — our preference is for the boots on the ground to be those of the Iranians." (Politico, 8 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t13__v145.md). The idea in this article, a joint US-Israeli special-forces raid, is different from the ground force Leiter was talking about.

The same day, from Haaretz. Haaretz reported that the US ambassador to the United Nations confirmed the United States has "troops and assets that are focused on seizing weapons of mass destruction if needed and if so ordered" (see Trump says deploying US ground forces in Iran 'on the table').

An expert's view ten days later. Historian Max Boot, on a Council on Foreign Relations podcast, described the realistic options as "very limited numbers" of special operations troops, including special operations to secure "nearly 1000 pounds of highly enriched uranium," and said neither had yet been done (CFR, The President's Inbox, 18 March 2026; research capture: twitter/t52__v617.md). Nearly 1,000 pounds is about 450 kilograms, the same stockpile this article describes.

What it shows​

Eight days into the war, an Israeli outlet reported the ground option already under joint US-Israeli discussion: a special-forces raid on Iran's buried uranium, which would presumably need a larger operation first to secure the area. Watch how the officials handled the words. "Boots on the ground for Trump is not the same as what it means for the media," one told Axios. Another said the plan "hasn't been thought of in terms of boots on the ground." Trump said, "Everything is on the table."

Relabeling a ground raid so it does not count as boots on the ground is one way the public is told nothing is happening. By June, CNN's source said of the same mission: "Essentially, we'd have to invade." See Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid and No Boots on the Ground.

Check it yourself​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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