Inside The Aborted Iran Heist — What Changed?

Map of Iran highlighting oil production areas with oil rigs in the foreground

The U.S. military drew up plans to send special forces deep into Iran to seize its nuclear uranium stockpile — then President Trump pumped the brakes, calling the mission too dangerous and the uranium already trapped underground.

Story Snapshot

The U.S. and Israel discussed sending special forces into Iran to grab its highly enriched uranium stockpile after airstrikes degraded Iranian defenses.
Trump revealed the plan was considered but shelved, saying the uranium is now “entombed” underground and under close U.S. surveillance.
Military analysts say any ground raid would rank among the most complex commando missions ever attempted, requiring heavy equipment to breach hundreds of feet of rock.
Iran’s stockpile is estimated to be enough for 10 to 12 nuclear weapons, keeping the pressure high on the Trump administration to ensure it stays out of reach.

The Plan That Was Put on the Table

The United States and Israel held serious talks about sending special operations forces into Iran to secure the country’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. According to Axios and Fortune, those conversations focused on deploying troops at a later stage of the conflict, after Iranian air defenses had been weakened. The goal was to physically seize or secure the nuclear material before Iran could move or weaponize it. ^[4]

The uranium in question is no small concern. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports and U.S. government estimates put the stockpile at enough material for roughly 10 to 12 nuclear weapons. That level of enriched uranium in Iran’s hands represents one of the most serious nuclear threats the world has faced in decades. The location of the material — buried deep inside fortified tunnels — made the planning extremely difficult from the start. ^[1]

Why Trump Pulled Back

Trump publicly confirmed that a ground raid was considered but ultimately set aside. Speaking aboard Air Force One, he said the uranium is now “entombed” underground and that Washington is watching it closely. He added that the U.S. “could get it if it really wanted to,” but that a dangerous ground mission was not needed right now. His position: the material is contained, and a raid would cost too much in risk and lives. ^[1]

Trump also laid out a clear condition for ever using ground troops. He said Iran would have to be “so decimated” that its forces could no longer fight at the ground level before U.S. troops would move in. That threshold has not been met. Critics point out that some reports describe the plan as still sitting “on a desk in Washington” awaiting a final decision — not permanently canceled. Trump’s “shelved” language and those reports do not fully line up. ^[2]

What a Raid Would Actually Take

Military analysts describe the potential mission as unlike anything U.S. forces have ever attempted. The uranium is stored inside tunnels buried under hundreds of feet of solid rock. Retrieving it would require flying in heavy excavation equipment, potentially building a temporary runway inside hostile Iranian territory, and breaching massive amounts of rubble — all while under fire. One analyst called it “the mother of all commando raids.” ^[5]

“The IDF and US military had the capability to physically extract the enriched uranium from Iran… in the situation we’ve come to, that was the only option to achieve the necessary goal.”

With reports revealing that Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has strictly forbidden… pic.twitter.com/yVcZ9nVWhs

— All Israel News (@all_israel_news) June 9, 2026

There is also an unresolved question about where the uranium actually is right now. Some U.S. officials have expressed concern that Iran may have already moved the stockpile before or during the airstrikes. Trump says it is entombed and monitored, but no public satellite images or IAEA confirmation have been released to back that up. That gap leaves room for doubt — and keeps the pressure on the administration to prove the material is truly locked down and not in the hands of someone willing to use it. ^[1]