CNN: U.S. military drafted secret Iran uranium raid, but Trump halted it

The U.S. military planned a secret ground operation in May to seize Iran’s enriched uranium, including the estimated 970 kilograms of highly enriched material, but President Donald Trump stopped it, CNN reported. Sources said Trump refused to give the green light because of the risk of heavy casualties, and because the mission could have triggered a severe Iranian response and prolonged the war.

The planning advanced quickly. In the previous month, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Gen. Dan Caine made an urgent trip to U.S. Central Command in Florida for a briefing on the military’s options, then updated Trump. U.S. commanders assessed the raid as carrying a “high to extreme” level of risk for the forces involved, and one source said it was not surprising Trump declined to authorize it.

Despite that, the option was not fully removed. A CBS report said Pentagon officials are also discussing possible U.S. help in securing the uranium if an agreement is reached. Early talks focus on how the Pentagon could oversee the seizure, with one scenario calling for U.S. troops to be stationed in several Middle East countries for rapid response, alongside Department of Energy teams that would enter Iran to locate, secure, and remove enriched uranium stockpiles.

A senior Trump administration official said that under a possible deal expected in the coming days, Iran’s enriched uranium would be “destroyed on site and then removed from the country.” He said a technical process would still be needed, and the technical negotiations could continue for 60 days after a memorandum of understanding is signed. Trump told Channel 12 on Friday that he still thinks a deal with Iran could be reached over the weekend or by Monday. Israeli officials fear he may settle for diluting the uranium inside Iran under U.N. supervision rather than removing it completely, and people close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, “The big fear is that Trump will do to us what Obama did.”