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← Kharg Island and the Uranium Raid

The Uranium Seizure Raid: What It Would Take

The June 2025 strikes buried Iran's most dangerous nuclear material instead of destroying it. The 2026 war could not reach it either. So from March 2026 onward, the Pentagon planned to send American ground forces to dig it out. Israel's prime minister asked for exactly that on American television. This page explains what the material is, where it is, and what the people who planned the raid said it would require of American soldiers.

The material​

Enriched uranium is uranium processed to concentrate the isotope U-235, which can fuel a reactor or, at about 90 percent, a bomb. Before the June 2025 strikes, Iran was believed to hold about 440 kilograms (roughly 970 pounds) enriched to 60 percent, a short step from weapons grade, plus nearly 200 kilograms at 20 percent. The Times of Israel, summarizing the Wall Street Journal, said the 60 percent stock was estimated to be enough for ten bombs (Times of Israel, 16 March 2026). The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, said about half of it was in a tunnel complex at Isfahan, with more at Natanz. The BBC reported it was stored as a gas in large metal containers, which the United States estimated at 40 to 50 canisters (BBC, 31 March 2026; Ynet, 30 March 2026). Iran shut out inspectors after the June 2025 strikes. Later reports added the underground site called Pickaxe Mountain, near Natanz, where Iran was reported to have moved hundreds of centrifuges.

Israel's ask​

Israel's government made the uranium the war's unfinished business. On CBS's 60 Minutes, 10 May 2026, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war was "not over, because there's still nuclear material, enriched uranium that has to be taken out of Iran." Asked how: "You go in, and you take it out." Asked whose special forces: "Well, I'm not gonna talk about military means, but the pres-- what President Trump has said to me, 'I want to go in there.' and I think it can be done physically" (CBS transcript). Journalist Ben Swann asked the obvious question: "after Israel already stated there would be no IDF ground troops entering Iran, does that mean American troops are expected to carry the burden of a ground war?" (Ben Swann on X, 12 May 2026).

Former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant said in June that a joint seizure "should have been done" during the June 2025 war: "The ability of the US Army together with the Israeli army existed" (Jerusalem Post, 10 June 2026). Former Israeli national security adviser Eyal Hulata, now at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Wall Street Journal that if the war ended without dealing with the stockpile and Pickaxe, "there will be a serious problem" (Globes, 21 March 2026).

What the raid requires​

Every description of the mission, from every source, is a ground operation.

  • The Wall Street Journal, 16 March: potentially "the largest special forces operation in history," with "upward of 1,000 military personnel" on site. Combat troops would hold a perimeter; engineers would dig through rubble and clear mines and booby traps; a local airfield, or a makeshift one, would bring equipment in and fly the material out; ground forces and aircraft would hold off drones and missiles (Times of Israel).
  • Richard Nephew, former NSC Iran director: "more than a thousand personnel would be needed at one site," at risk from drones, improvised bombs, and contamination, for a long time on site (Globes / WSJ).
  • Former US defense officials to the BBC, 31 March: it "could not be done without ground forces"; parts of the 82nd Airborne could secure the areas around Isfahan and Natanz while nuclear-trained special operators went in. Isfahan is about 300 miles inland and is Iran's third-largest city. Former official Alex Plitsas warned that medical evacuation at that distance would be hard. JINSA's Jonathan Ruhe: "And there are a million things that could go wrong" (BBC).
  • Israel Hayom, 30 March: "It would require inserting hundreds if not thousands of troops deep inside Iranian territory and a complex engineering operation involving radioactive materials, all under Iranian fire" (Israel Hayom).
  • Gen. Joseph Votel, former CENTCOM commander, as Ynet quoted him: this is not a job you can enter and leave quickly. Experts told the Journal it would take days, maybe a week (Ynet).
  • President Trump, 4 June: "This is different. You have to be there for two weeks. You'd need massive equipment. You'd have to airlift the equipment" (Times of Israel, 5 June 2026).
  • A CNN source, June: "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" (CNN).
  • The New York Post, 25 July: "thousands of ground troops storming Iran's nuclear facilities — navigating boobytraps, utilizing construction crews, and maintaining a large defensive blocking force surrounding the sites," after which "a small team of special operators would conduct the actual retrieval" (as pasted by Owen Gregorian). Units named, via The High Side: SEAL Team 6 Silver Squadron, the 2nd Ranger Battalion, and the Army's 21st Ordnance Company.

The risk rating​

CNN reported that commanders put the mission between "High" and "Extreme" on the scale used for special operations, meaning a large number of American casualties was possible even if the raid succeeded. The main dangers, a source said, were booby-trapped tunnels, shoulder-fired and surface-to-air missiles, and Iran's remaining missiles and drones. Iran had reinforced Isfahan and, per CNN, placed mines and explosives inside its tunnels because a raid was expected. Former NSC official Richard Goldberg: "There is no element of surprise at the moment." At Pickaxe Mountain, he said, a raid would more likely mean going in, setting explosives, and getting out, "if you don't think you can collapse the facility by airstrike" (Ynetnews, 25 July 2026).

Why it matters​

The uranium is the war aim Israel's prime minister named, the war aim bombs cannot reach, and the war aim for which the Pentagon wrote a plan requiring thousands of American soldiers on Iranian soil. CSIS's Joseph Rodgers, July: "I hate to say it, but I think the most likely way to get rid of Iran's nuclear material, at least what they currently have, is a military operation because the negotiations aren't going anywhere fast" (i24NEWS). For how close it came in May, see the paused raid.

Status: Benjamin Netanyahu is alive. Donald Trump is alive. Yoav Gallant is alive. Eyal Hulata is alive. Richard Nephew is alive. Joseph Votel is alive. Jonathan Ruhe is alive. Alex Plitsas is alive. Joseph Rodgers is alive. Richard Goldberg is alive. Rafael Grossi is alive. Ben Swann is alive.

Sources​

Last Updated: 2026-09-26

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