US President Donald Trump said that eliminating Iran's nuclear weapons capability is a key goal in the US campaign.
However, US military experts believe that this may be one of the most risky missions ever carried out.
Special forces units of the US Special Forces have been trained for decades to seize or neutralize Tehran's uranium. They continuously conduct exercises at US facilities designed to simulate tunnel systems leading to underground storage facilities. These are the most elite forces, undergoing in-depth physical and technical training for this mission.
However, the campaign to move or destroy high-enriched uranium will be more complex and difficult than any task that US special forces have ever carried out.
This is not only one of the most risky special operations in US history, but very likely the largest" - CBS News national security analyst Aaron MacLean said. This former Marine who fought in Afghanistan in 2009-2010 believes that controlling Iran's uranium stockpile could take hours, even days.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) informed that Iran still has about 441kg of uranium enriched at 60%, with only a short step left to reach the 90% enrichment level to make nuclear warheads.
Iran's uranium depot is stored at 2 or possibly 3 different locations. This amount of uranium is contained in large steel barrels, the size of a family gas cylinder. Due to their large size, these barrels cannot be carried by backpack but must be transported by truck. At least half of these are located deep underground at the Isfahan facility, in the Iranian interior region. The rest are likely located under the Natanz facility, about 113km from Isfahan.
According to the IAEA, there is some evidence that Iran has transferred part of the enriched uranium to the area called "Pickaxe Mountains", near Natanz. To control Iran's entire uranium stockpile, US forces will have to deploy multiple missions at the same time, making the entire operation much more logistically complex.
The main force of the US in this operation may be elite special forces units of the Delta Force, trained to "safely neutralize" nuclear materials. They are likely to be air-deployed from US naval ships in the Arabian Sea, 1,600km from the target. Another option is to depart from Kuwait or eastern Iraq, which significantly shortens the distance.
To maintain the element of secrecy and surprise, combat units can set up a gathering point a few kilometers away from the target, or even build a temporary runway. Then, commandos, technical experts and support forces will approach the target by road.
To carry out such an operation, it may take up to 1,000 soldiers to establish and protect the security belt around the target, the task is usually undertaken by the US Army Rangers Rangers. However, with the special nature of the operation, the US military can also mobilize the 82nd Airborne Division.
Some units of the 82nd Airborne Division have begun moving to the Middle East, raising speculation that the US is preparing for an operation to control Iran's nuclear arsenal.
