US may gain access to Iran's enriched uranium reserves - report

The U.S. military has briefed President Donald Trump on a highly complex special operations plan to extract nearly 454 kg of highly enriched uranium buried deep inside Iran, the Washington Post reported.

Trump requested the plan, according to the newspaper, signaling his interest in permanently neutralizing Iran's nuclear capabilities.

"The proposed mission would require airlifting potentially thousands of troops and heavy excavation equipment into Iran, in an operation that could take weeks to complete," former defense officials said.

Teams would first need to strike Iranian defenses and establish a beachhead, possibly through a parachute assault by the Army's 82nd Airborne and Rangers to seize ground and construct an airstrip for supplies, according to people familiar with the plan.

One former operator described the process as "slow, meticulous and can be an extremely deadly process."

The target is Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60%, below weapons-grade level. Much of it lies beneath nuclear sites already struck in a U.S. operation last June.