Iran has collapsed tunnels and planted mines at its Isfahan nuclear complex, making it harder to access highly enriched uranium, as a U.S.-Iran agreement nears signing.
Iran has reportedly collapsed access tunnels and planted explosive mines around a key nuclear facility believed to contain much of the regime's highly enriched uranium stockpile, potentially complicating a central component of the emerging U.S.-Iran agreement aimed at ending the months-long conflict in the Middle East.
The new fortifications were carried out in recent weeks at Iran's Isfahan nuclear complex, where much of the regime's near-weapons-grade uranium is believed to be buried underground. The move comes as President Donald Trump has repeatedly insisted that any final agreement with Tehran must ultimately result in the removal, destruction, or downblending of the enriched material.
The reported effort to seal off the uranium stockpile adds a new layer of uncertainty to negotiations that are expected to culminate in the signing of a memorandum of understanding as soon as Sunday. Under the framework currently under discussion, Iran would commit to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and entering technical negotiations over dismantling its nuclear program, while the United States would eventually oversee the disposal of Tehran's highly enriched uranium.
According to a report citing five sources familiar with U.S. intelligence, Iran deliberately collapsed tunnels and booby-trapped entrances with explosive mines in an apparent effort to prevent access to the uranium cache. Retrieving the material is now significantly more difficult, dangerous, and time-consuming than it was only weeks ago, when Trump was publicly discussing the possibility of using military force to secure the stockpile.
The international community believes much of Iran's highly enriched uranium remains buried within tunnel networks at the Isfahan facility following last year's U.S. and Israeli strikes on the regime's nuclear infrastructure. Additional material is believed to be stored at other nuclear sites. The fate of that uranium has emerged as one of the most consequential unresolved issues in the ongoing negotiations.
Trump reiterated its importance on Saturday while announcing that an agreement with Iran is expected to be signed on Sunday. He stated on Truth Social that at the appropriate time, when all is calm, the United States would go in and get the nuclear dust buried deep under the powerful sunken granite mountains, thanks to B-2 Bombers and their brilliant pilots, and downblend and destroy it, whether in Iran or the United States.
The president added that the agreement would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and reopen the Strait of Hormuz immediately after its signing. A senior administration official told reporters Friday that the emerging agreement ultimately leads to the United States obtaining Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium. The official said the agreement provides that this material would be destroyed on site and then taken out of the country.
The Iranians commit to destroying and removing the enriched material, but the official acknowledged that it will take a little bit of time to figure out how to do that, noting that it is very combustible and volatile stuff, not something that can simply be removed with a backhoe and a backpack. Experts cited in the report warned that Iran's new fortifications could create additional verification challenges.
Scott Roecker, who headed the National Nuclear Security Administration's Office of Nuclear Material Removal from 2017 to 2021, said the reported measures could provide Tehran with an opportunity to claim that portions of its uranium stockpile are inaccessible. He warned that if negotiators require Iran to gather the entire stockpile for verification and removal, Tehran could later argue that some of the material is irretrievable, meaning the United States would not have full confidence that Iran could not retain access to it at some point in the future.
Earlier this year, a separate report indicated that senior U.S. military officials had previously prepared plans for a possible ground operation to seize Iran's uranium stockpile by force. According to that report, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine made a rushed trip to U.S. Central Command headquarters in Tampa, Florida, in May to review operational plans involving American ground forces entering Iran and securing the material.
President Trump ultimately declined to authorize the operation after being warned it could trigger severe Iranian retaliation, prolong the conflict, damage the global economy, and result in significant U.S. casualties. Officials familiar with the planning told CNN that physically securing the uranium would likely require hundreds of special operations personnel and a substantial American military presence on the ground.
One source described the task as insanely difficult, noting that it would require fishing through tunnels and all the barrels and setting up a massive presence, essentially an invasion. The new fortifications at Isfahan only compound the challenge, making any future attempt to secure or verify the uranium stockpile far more complex and dangerous
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