US Secret Operation Exposed, Iran's Nuclear Stockpile Targeted

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia — The Pentagon is reportedly examining plans for a large-scale military operation to seize Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium. A report by the New York Post (NYP) said the operation could become one of the most complicated military missions in history if it is actually carried out.

Citing sources familiar with the discussions, the NYP reported that thousands of United States (US) ground troops would be deployed to storm Iran’s heavily guarded nuclear facilities. Elite commando teams would then be tasked with securing and evacuating the enriched uranium from those sites.

“This operation has the potential to be the most sophisticated operation in military history,” Joseph Rodgers, Deputy Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told the NYP, quoted on Monday (27/7/2026).

According to the report, the exact location of Iran’s uranium stockpile has not been fully confirmed. Iran has four main nuclear facilities at Fordo, Natanz, Isfahan, and Pickaxe Mountain. The first three facilities were targeted by US and Israeli strikes last year. Of the roughly 440 kilogrammes of enriched uranium, about 200 kilogrammes are believed to be located in underground tunnels near Isfahan, while the remainder is thought to be scattered across other sites, including Natanz.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously said in March that stocks of highly enriched uranium remain buried beneath the rubble of facilities struck by US and Israeli attacks. He also stressed that Tehran has “no plans” to recover the uranium or to reduce its level of enrichment.

Meanwhile, the Pickaxe Mountain complex, built deep into granite bedrock, is said to have survived last year’s strikes because it was still under construction at the time. However, the US and Israel suspect Iran has reinforced the facility and may have moved centrifuges as well as some of the uranium to deeper locations, although the facility is believed not yet to be fully operational.

The NYP said regular US forces would be tasked with securing the area and establishing a security perimeter. After that, elite units such as the Silver Squadron of SEAL Team 6, the US Army’s 2nd Ranger Battalion, and the 21st Ordnance Company would handle the retrieval and transport of nuclear material from Fordo and Isfahan.

The operation is also said to require engineering personnel to clear booby traps, reopen access to collapsed tunnels, and fighter aircraft support to control air corridors so the uranium can be safely flown out of Iran.

Rodgers assessed that the military option is increasingly being considered because the diplomatic track is seen as moving slowly.

“This would be an extremely demanding operation logistically and difficult to carry out in a contested environment. Iran’s military has been severely weakened, but it is still more sophisticated than the forces guarding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro,” he said.

Meanwhile, The New York Times previously reported that most of Iran’s uranium is believed to be buried so deep that even the US’s most powerful bunker-busting bomb would probably be unable to destroy it. The report also warned that an operation to retrieve the uranium would carry major risks, as nuclear material can become highly toxic if exposed to moisture.