Iran may be able to access and move highly enriched uranium that had been previously thought to have been buried underground by US strikes on the Isfahan nuclear facility last June, according to a New York Times report. The Saturday report said US intelligence agencies have determined that there is now a “very narrow access point” through which the uranium could potentially be retrieved. The newspaper, writing based on anonymous interviews with US officials, said that American spy agencies are constantly surveilling the Isfahan facility and believe they will know of any Iranian attempts to relocate the enriched uranium. US officials have reportedly been debating options of how to secure the uranium for several weeks.
Since the US and Israeli bombings last June, Iran has refused to show what happened to its stockpile of highly enriched uranium or allow International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors access to sites where enrichment took place. US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he would not rule out the idea of sending ground troops into Iran to secure the country’s stockpiles of enriched uranium.
“At some point maybe we will. That would be a great thing,” he told reporters during a briefing aboard Air Force One. “We haven’t gone after it but it’s something we could do later.” Some critics of the US-Israeli war on Iran launched last Saturday have said airstrikes alone are unlikely to achieve the stated goals of destroying Iran’s military capacity and preventing it from developing a nuclear bomb. Asked about the use of ground troops in general, Trump did not rule it out, saying: “Could there be? Possibly, for a very good reason — it’d have to be a very good reason.” (Read More)
