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Report: US forces were a step from a ground raid for Iran's nuclear material, then Trump pulled back

Walla, a major Israeli news site, published a Hebrew report by Amit Avitan, דיווח: הכוחות האמריקניים היו כפסע ממבצע קרקעי להשגת החומר הגרעיני באיראן - ואז טראמפ התחרט. The date printed on the page is a last-update time, 13 June 2026, at 09:44. Avitan writes that he is passing on a CNN report. The subject is a plan, not carried out, to send American ground forces into Iran to seize enriched uranium. Enriched uranium is uranium processed so it can feed a reactor or a nuclear weapon. An American family should care because the article says the president's top general briefed him on that ground option, and that President Donald Trump then paused it after warnings about American casualties.

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 claim is that a risky ground raid came close to approval and was then paused. Walla, a major Israeli outlet, is passing on CNN, which cites unnamed sources familiar with the details.

What the article says​

Avitan writes that the American chairman of the Joint Chiefs made a secret, urgent visit late in the previous month to US Central Command headquarters in Florida. Central Command, often called CENTCOM, is the US military command for the Middle East. The visit, he writes, was a face-to-face briefing on American plans whose center was sending ground forces to Iran and seizing its stockpile of enriched uranium. He attributes that to CNN, citing sources familiar with the details. The page's update date is 13 June 2026, so "late last month" in the article points to May.

He names the officer as General Dan Caine. He writes that the briefings were so urgent that Caine left a meeting of senior NATO officials in Brussels and returned to Florida on 19 May. NATO is the North Atlantic treaty alliance of the United States and Europe. Avitan writes that Caine then briefed Trump on ways to carry out such an operation. That, he writes, is what one source said.

לדבריהם, עצם קיומם של תדרוכים כה בכירים ודחופים ממחיש עד כמה הממשל היה קרוב לאשר את המבצע הקרקעי עתיר הסיכונים.

Amit Avitan, Walla, last updated 13 June 2026, giving what the sources told CNN. In plain English: in their telling, the very fact of such senior and urgent briefings shows how close the administration was to approving the high-risk ground operation.

He writes that Trump then pressed pause. The warning, as Avitan reports the sources, was that the move would draw a harsh Iranian response, lengthen the war, and push the world economy into a deeper shock. He also writes that it was reported Trump feared a high number of American casualties.

He writes that this planning sat next to repeated statements from Trump that the United States and Iran were nearing a deal. That deal, as Avitan describes Trump's claim, would open the Strait of Hormuz and end the talks over Iran's nuclear program. The Strait of Hormuz is the narrow sea lane out of the Persian Gulf. Much of the world's oil passes through it. Avitan writes that on Thursday Trump said the two sides were expected to sign soon, maybe over the weekend.

He writes that talks held only the previous month about sending ground forces show how close the United States was to a sharp escalation. He quotes one source familiar with the possible operation telling CNN that there are a lot of risks here, and that he was not surprised Trump did not give the military a green light. Those are Avitan's Hebrew words for what the source said. The English sentence is not printed on the page.

What other reporting adds​

The same day as the briefing. On 19 May, a widely followed news account posted: "A senior Pentagon official declined to rule out renewed US military action or ground troop deployment in Iran, saying those decisions remain with President Trump." (@deitaone01 on Threads, 19 May 2026; research capture: twitter/t50__v594.md).

The same CNN story, in English. Israel National News quoted a source from the CNN report: "It would be insanely difficult to fish through those tunnels and all the barrels. We'd have to set up a massive presence. Essentially, we'd have to invade." (see Trump paused 'extreme risk' commando raid).

An Israeli former defense minister said the raid should have happened. Three days before this report, former defense minister Yoav Gallant told Israeli radio: "The ability of the US Army together with the Israeli army existed, and that was something that should have been done." (see Israel should have seized Iran's uranium, Gallant says).

It came back. In July, the New York Post reported planning for "thousands of ground troops storming Iran's nuclear facilities" (as pasted by @OwenGregorian on X, 25 July 2026; research capture: twitter/t52__v613.md).

What it shows​

An Israeli news site told its readers how close the United States came to a ground operation in Iran: urgent senior briefings, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs leaving a NATO meeting to brief the President, and, in the sources' telling, an administration close to approving it. What held it back was fear of a high number of American casualties.

Three days earlier, Israel's former defense minister Yoav Gallant said the raid should have been done: "The ability of the US Army together with the Israeli army existed, and that was something that should have been done." In July the plan was back, sized at "thousands of ground troops." See Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid and Israeli Leaders on a Ground War.

Check it yourself​

Status: Donald Trump is alive. Dan Caine is alive.

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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