Iran has reportedly significantly strengthened security measures around facilities storing its highly enriched uranium stockpile, making any recovery operation extremely difficult. According to an exclusive CNN report citing five sources with knowledge of US intelligence information, Iranian authorities have sealed underground tunnels where an estimated half-ton of uranium enriched to levels close to those required for nuclear weapon production is believed to be stored.
Additionally, according to the same intelligence sources, explosive landmines have been placed at facility entrances, further enhancing protection of the material. Sources cited by the American network report that access to this specific stockpile is now “much more difficult, dangerous and time-consuming” compared to a month earlier, when Donald Trump had left open the possibility of a US military operation to seize it.
CNN: Why the US plan for Iran’s uranium was “frozen” – Negotiation difficulties
According to CNN, in mid-May US armed forces had even prepared for an operation to seize the nuclear material on Iranian soil. However, the plan was ultimately deemed excessively dangerous and did not proceed.
The American side believes most of the stockpile is now located in collapsed tunnels at the Isfahan nuclear complex in central Iran, while smaller quantities are reportedly stored at other locations. Trump himself had publicly referenced the difficulties of a uranium recovery operation. In a Fox News interview in May, he expressed doubts about whether Iran could move this material without being detected by US intelligence services.
“We know exactly what’s happening. Nobody has even gotten close to there,” the US president told host Sean Hannity.
Two sources who spoke to CNN even estimate that Trump’s public references to this specific stockpile may have prompted Tehran to further strengthen its protective measures.
The new fortifications add another complicating factor to negotiations between Washington and Tehran regarding the future of Iran’s nuclear program.
Donald Trump has repeatedly stated that securing and destroying this specific nuclear material constitutes a top US priority within talks aimed at ending the crisis and restoring maritime transport through the Strait of Hormuz.
A senior US government official told reporters Friday that both sides are closer to an agreement that would provide for transferring the enriched uranium to the United States. According to the official, the material would be destroyed on-site and then removed from the country.
However, public statements by American and Iranian officials differ significantly regarding the content of the agreement under development, while exact terms remain unclear.
Iran’s moves “will significantly complicate enriched uranium recovery”
Nuclear security experts estimate that Iran’s new measures create serious technical problems even if an agreement is reached. “If this information is accurate, then it will certainly complicate the recovery of highly enriched uranium,” said Scott Roecker, who headed the Nuclear Material Removal Office of the US National Nuclear Security Administration from 2017-2021.
As he explained, accessing the material would require heavy excavation equipment and extensive demining operations – procedures characterized as particularly difficult and dangerous.
Roecker also warned that the situation could create room for questioning Tehran’s compliance with its commitments. “If negotiators require Iran to move the entire stockpile to a central location for verification and ultimately for removal or dilution of the material, then the responsibility will fall on Tehran to gain access and provide a complete inventory of stockpiles,” he noted.
However, he expressed reservations about the possibility of Iran claiming inability to access part of the material. “In this scenario, I would worry that Iran would argue that a portion of the highly enriched uranium cannot be recovered. We wouldn’t have complete certainty that it couldn’t regain access to it in the future,” he emphasized.
Multi-month negotiations and complex procedures
Even if the agreement between Washington and Tehran is signed within the coming days, multi-month technical negotiations are expected to follow regarding how to handle Iran’s nuclear stockpile.
According to CNN, uranium removal would likely require operating a special mobile processing facility under supervision of the US National Nuclear Security Administration.
Additionally, even the most specialized nuclear decontamination teams would need significant time to complete the mission. Trump himself has estimated that the material removal process alone would require at least two weeks of work.
