Lately, ideas are being floated on what to do about the 440 kg (970 lbs.) of 60% enriched uranium Iran has squirreled away. One notion is to send in the 82nd Airborne Division (several thousand of whom will soon be in the region) to secure the material and fly it out of Iran. On the other end of the difficulty spectrum is simply to use munitions to bury the uranium cache under thousands of tons of rubble, rendering the radioactive material inaccessible. Though the latter approach might be easier in the short run, the risk is that Iran could eventually dig it up given enough time.

Inserting Ground Troops Into Iran Is Risky

Putting US ground forces into Iran for any reason is a tricky business. With the buildup of two Marine Expeditionary Units and elements of the 82nd Airborne Division in the region, President Trump has decision options to insert troops on Kharg Island to seize Iran’s oil distribution capability and possibly occupy Iranian port facilities bordering the Strait of Hormuz. However, airdropping forces deep into the interior of Iran at Isfahan, where experts believe the 60% enriched uranium is stored, is far more difficult and complex. The New York Times reported “American intelligence agencies have determined that Iran or potentially another group could retrieve Iran’s primary store of highly enriched uranium even though it was entombed under the country’s nuclear site at Isfahan by U.S. strikes last year, according to multiple officials familiar with the classified reports.” Those same officials believe that Iran can get to the uranium stockpile “through a very narrow access point.”

According to satellite........

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