President Donald Trump threatened that if Iran attempts to dig out its destroyed nuclear facilities, he will order new strikes on the sites.
“We’ll get that at some point, whenever we want. We have it surveilled,” Trump said on Full Measure. “I did a thing called Space Force, and they are watching. If somebody walked in, they can tell you his name, his address, the number of his badge … If anybody got near the place, we will know about it, and we’ll blow them up.”
Iran has around 1,000 pounds of 60% enriched uranium. While the location of the nuclear material is not publicly disclosed, Trump appears to believe it is buried in one of the nuclear sites destroyed by operations Midnight Hammer in June.
Directors of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth told Congress earlier this year that Tehran has not started to rebuild the destroyed facilities. That Iran has not attempted to rebuild the facilities causes a problem for the White House. Trump and other top officials have argued that Iran was on the brink of obtaining a nuclear weapon before the US and Israel attack in February.
Trump has repeatedly said that a condition of ending the war against Iran is Tehran agreeing to transfer its stockpile of 60% enriched uranium to the US. Multiple media outlets have reported that the White House has also considered authorizing a raid to seize the nuclear material.
Tehran has refused to transfer its enriched uranium to the US, but said it would be willing to dilute the 60% uranium to a lower level for use in its medical and energy programs.
