Iran collapses tunnels and booby-traps entrances to enriched uranium site - report

Iran has stepped up measures to secure its stockpile of enriched uranium by collapsing tunnels and planting explosive mines at key entrances in recent weeks, according to CNN on Saturday, which cited five sources with knowledge of US intelligence assessments.

The development comes one day after a senior administration official indicated to reporters that the United States and Iran are approaching a deal that would require Tehran to transfer its near-bomb-grade uranium to the United States.

Reuters reported on Friday that the prospective agreement would also involve dismantling Iran's nuclear program and permit the United States to collect the regime's enriched uranium.

Details regarding the precise method for extracting the uranium remain unclear at this stage.

US President Donald Trump has consistently emphasized that recovering the uranium ranks among Washington's top priorities in the talks, while noting that only the United States and possibly China possess the necessary technical capability.

US considered ground operation to recover uranium

A CNN report from Friday revealed that Washington had initially prepared a ground mission into Iran to retrieve the uranium before President Trump suspended the plan.

In comments to 103FM, former defense minister Yoav Gallant stated that the United States and Israel should have joined forces to seize the uranium during the conflict.

"We should have gone and brought the enriched uranium by force in a military operation during the campaign. That would have uprooted the nuclear program from Iran," he said.

Scott Roecker, former head of the National Nuclear Security Administration's Office of Nuclear Material Removal, voiced concern about the increased fortifications surrounding the uranium.

Roecker told CNN that such measures might force negotiators to require Iran to move the uranium to a central site for verification and removal, thereby allowing Tehran to control the inventory process.

"In this scenario, I would worry that Iran would claim that some portion of the HEU was irretrievable. We wouldn't have full confidence that Iran couldn't retain access to it at some point in the future," CNN quoted Roecker as saying.