In this combo from satellite images provided by Vantor shows is a view of Natanz nuclear facility before, left, and with damage on Monday, March 2, 2026 in Iran. (Satellite image ©2026 Vantor via AP)
U.S. special operations forces may be needed to secure Iran’s uranium stockpiles, analysts say, as uncertainty over missing nuclear material persists amid American airstrikes on Iranian military targets.
Thousands of U.S. and Israeli attacks have destroyed warships, missile launchers, facilities and weaponry. But questions about the fate of canisters containing enriched uranium could trigger action on the ground.
In June, the U.S. carried out bunker-busting attacks on Iran’s nuclear program that were believed to set the program back years. Still, nuclear proliferation experts warn that nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium could be weaponized if centrifuges remain operational.
“It would take the mother of all commando raids — plus heavy equipment — to retrieve the canisters,” Barbara Slavin, an expert on Iran with the Stimson Center think tank, wrote in response to a question from Stars and Stripes.
President Donald Trump on Saturday didn’t rule out such a move in the future.
“Right now, we’re just decimating them, but we haven’t gone after it,” Trump said aboard Air Force One, referring to Iran’s nuclear sites. “But (it’s) something we could do later on. We wouldn’t do it now.”
Suspected locations for the material include damaged tunnel complexes at Iran’s Esfahan site and inside facilities at Fordow and Natanz.
Recovering the material could require digging through rubble in harsh terrain while a war is underway, analysts say. Given uncertainty over who ends up controlling Iran’s nuclear sites, the U.S. could face a scramble to seize enriched uranium and centrifuges.
“If the current conflict leads to the erosion and eventual loss of control by the Iranian regime, and the emergence of instability or a power vacuum, the security of nuclear materials, technology and knowledge will be a major issue,” wrote Daniel Salisbury and Alexander Bollfrass, experts with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in an analysis.
A regime downfall could create an opening for theft of centrifuges and materials by groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Islamic State, Slavin wrote in a Stimson Center analysis co-authored with proliferation experts Richard Cupitt and Christina McAllister.
Attempts by the U.S. military to recover the material likely would involve elite special operations forces supported by heavy equipment and technical experts, analysts say.
“To truly effect both regime change and secure the vulnerable WMD-relevant material in Iran, the United States may yet have to put boots on the ground,” the Stimson Center report said.
“Verifying compliance with dismantling its nuclear enrichment, missile, and drone programs, and investigating potential biological and chemical weapons programs and, if confirmed, dismantling them, will certainly take large numbers of investigators and inspectors at the very least,” the report said.
Trump has shown a willingness to launch high-risk operations with special operations troops.
In January, the U.S. Army’s Delta Force swooped into Venezuela in a daring operation to capture dictator Nicolás Maduro. Last month, Trump awarded U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover with the Medal of Honor for his heroics during the raid.
For the Pentagon, the stated main objective of Operation Epic Fury is the dismantling of Iran’s ability to project military power, including the destruction of its missile and drone programs.
Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. David Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Power Studies, said many of the administration’s goals can be achieved by airstrikes.
What stands out so far is the level of detailed intelligence on Iranian targets that has enabled the U.S. and Israel to achieve air dominance and operate at will, he said.
“It is the intelligence with respect to knowing where the systems and capabilities that you want to have an effect upon are located. And it’s not just simply a question of destroying every single missile that the Iranians possess, but it’s also affecting their ability to use them, and we demonstrated over and over again how that is possible with air power,” Deptula said.
How prepared the U.S. is to move quickly to secure Iran’s nuclear material is an open question.
The overall attack “appears to have been planned for months with the explicit goal of encouraging the overthrow of the government. It is less clear, however, that there has been any associated forethought given to securing the stockpiles,” the Stimson Center report said.
But when it comes to a plan for containing Iran’s nuclear program, and making sure the material doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, Deptula said it is a virtual certainty that military commanders have been planning through scenarios.
