Trump hints at US ground operation to seize Iran’s uranium

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has suggested that American ground troops could be deployed to Iran to secure the country’s stockpile of enriched uranium as part of efforts to dismantle Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One on Saturday, Trump said the option had not yet been pursued but could be considered in the future.

“At some point maybe we will. That would be a great thing,” he said.

“We haven’t gone after it but it’s something we could do later,” he added.

The remarks come amid ongoing tensions following the US–Israel war on Iran, which began last Saturday with a series of strikes targeting Iranian military and nuclear-related facilities.

Critics of the military campaign have argued that air strikes alone may not be sufficient to achieve the stated objectives of crippling Iran’s military capacity and preventing the country from developing a nuclear weapon.

When asked specifically about the possibility of deploying ground forces, Trump did not rule out the option.

“Could there be? Possibly, for a very good reason — it’d have to be a very good reason,” he said.

He added that if such a move were ever carried out, Iran’s forces would have been weakened to the point where they would be unable to mount effective resistance on the ground.

“And I would say if we ever did that, they would be so decimated that they wouldn’t be able to fight at the ground level,” the US president said.