If a local airfield wasn\u2019t available, a makeshift one would need to be set up to fly equipment in and the material out. And ground forces and aircraft would need to be prepared to head off Iranian drone and missile attacks. A quick response force would need to be on hand in case more troops had to rush to the scene, former military officials said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Richard Nephew, a former Iran director at the National Security Council, said any operation would be \u201cvery large and very complicated.\u201d He said you would need upward of 1,000 personnel to perform the operation at one site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m worried about the drone strikes, IED and similar traps, contamination risks, and the long time we\u2019d need to have people on-site,\u201d Nephew said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nephew said if time was short, the U.S. could also seek to dilute the material on-site by mixing it with natural uranium or destroy it, although that could cause chemical contaminations in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eyal Hulata, a former head of Israel\u2019s National Security Council who is a senior international fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said if the war ends without the U.S. taking care of the fissile-material stockpile or an underground tunnel network where Iran could start enriching again, known as Pickaxe, \u201cit\u2019s a serious problem.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut the U.S. and Israel will need to figure out a path to deal with them one way or the other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p> President Trump has said preventing Iran from ever developing nuclear weapons is a central aim of the war he is waging. In the absence of regime change that could mean seizing the country\u2019s fissile material.
Here's what it would take: https:\/\/t.co\/KJlSfnjqYP<\/a><\/p>— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) March 16, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote>