US weighs sending forces into Iran to secure nuclear stockpile, reports say

"Preventing Iran from acquiring a bomb is one of Trump's stated war aims, and the 440kg HEU stockpile represents the greatest nuclear threat as it could be turned into weapons-grade uranium relatively easily. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has told Congress that people are going to have to go and get it."

"Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Monday that the UN watchdog body believed that 200kg of Iran's HEU stockpile was in deep tunnels at its nuclear complex outside the city of Isfahan. He added that there was another amount of HEU in another nuclear centre at Natanz, where Iranians have constructed a new fortified and deeply buried facility called Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La."

"The HEU is in the form of uranium hexafluoride, which is solid at room temperature but turns into a gas when heated allowing it to be further enriched. It is believed to be stored in metal canisters each about the size of a scuba diving tank, stored down deep shafts."

The Trump administration is reportedly exploring military options to secure Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU), with Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicating personnel would need to retrieve it. Iran possesses approximately 440kg of HEU that could be converted into weapons-grade material relatively easily, representing a major nuclear proliferation concern. The IAEA reports that 200kg is stored in deep tunnels at Isfahan's nuclear complex, with additional quantities at Natanz in a fortified underground facility called Pickaxe Mountain. The HEU exists as uranium hexafluoride stored in metal canisters within deep shafts. While US and Israeli special forces have trained for such missions and developed specialized equipment like the Mobile Uranium Facility for containing and removing HEU, nuclear experts emphasize the considerable complexity and risks involved in executing such an operation.

Read at www.theguardian.com