Washington – The Trump administration has been planning ways and means to protect or remove Iran’s nuclear weapons, according to multiple people briefed on the talks, as the US-Israeli-led military campaign against Tehran enters an uncertain phase.
The timing of any such operation — should President Trump order it — was unclear Friday night. Another source said he had not yet made a decision.
But the planning centers on the use of troops from the secretive Joint Special Operations Command, the top military unit often tasked with the most critical counter-proliferation mission, two sources told CBS News.
A White House spokesman said it was the Pentagon’s job to make arrangements.
A Pentagon spokesman did not immediately comment.
Mr. Trump in the book Truth Social on Friday evening said: “We are very close to meeting our objectives as we consider ending our major Military efforts in the Middle East against the Terrorist State of Iran.”
The secret talks on nuclear weapons come amid a volatile conflict whose opening has focused on discrediting Iran’s conventional military capabilities – including its air defenses, missile systems and critical infrastructure linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
That first wave of strikes by US and Israeli forces was intended to blunt Iran’s ability to retaliate across the region. However, despite the attacks from the air, Iran has been able to stand up to Israel and the countries allied with the US in the Gulf region, and stopped most of the oil shipments by threatening ships.
Six American service members were killed and dozens were injured on the Iranian drone attack on base in Kuwait, and one US service member He died in an attack in Saudi Arabia. Six Americans were killed when a refueling plane crashed in Iraq last week.
Recently, management turned their attention to the lasting goal set by Mr. Trump at the start of the war: to ensure that Iran can no longer produce a nuclear weapon.
Since last summer, Iran has been stockpiling more 972 pounds of 60%-enriched uranium, which is a short step away from weapons-grade material, according to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA. Most of that uranium remains buried under the nuclear sites bombed by US forces last summer.
US officials have said the Trump administration has not ruled out trying to recover highly enriched uranium from Iran as part of the current military campaign. White House press secretary Caroline Leavitt told reporters earlier this week that “it’s an option on the table.”
Any uranium mining operation can be difficult and dangerous.
“We are talking about cylinders containing uranium hexafluoride gas that is highly contaminated at 60%, so it is very difficult to handle it,” Rafael Grossi, director general of the IAEA, he told CBS News’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” this week. “I’m not saying it’s impossible. I know they have incredible military power to do that, but it could be.” [a] a very challenging performance for sure.”
The US intelligence community assessed last spring that Iran was not trying to build a nuclear weapon, and Iran maintains that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. But in recent years, Iran has enriched uranium to 60%, above the levels needed for most non-military uses. The IAEA said Iran is the only non-nuclear weapons state develop uranium at that level.
Since the war started, Mr. Trump he counted to ensure that Iran cannot obtain a nuclear weapon as one of the goals of the war.
Before the conflict broke out, the US and Iran held several informal talks aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear program. Those talks included discussions about depleting Iran’s most enriched uranium at a low level and turning it into fuel, according to Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who helped mediate the talks.
Mr. Trump has forced Iran to stop enriching uranium completely, including at low levels, an idea the Iranian government has rejected.
