ALBAWABA - CNN, citing five sources familiar with U.S. intelligence assessments, stated that Iran has recently made significant upgrades to the protection of its enriched uranium stockpile by the intentional destruction of portions of tunnels and blocking entrances with explosives and mines.
It is now significantly more difficult and dangerous to obtain hundreds of kilos of enriched uranium than it was a month ago when U.S. President Donald Trump said military action to get the stuff was still an option.
The new fortifications, the sources claimed, have posed further problems for any future nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran, and raised doubts about who would be responsible for retrieving and exporting the nuclear material if a deal was made.
Even Iran itself has trouble recovering the uranium, requiring heavy excavation equipment, mine clearing operations and extensive engineering work in order to safely reach the underground facilities, CNN reported.
The study said the preparations could give Tehran an excuse down the line to delay or hamper the transfer of enriched uranium under any new nuclear deal by arguing the material is hard to extract from the fortified installations.
Sources said the U.S. military considered a plan to take the stockpile of enriched uranium in mid-May. But officials eventually deemed the operation too perilous and shelved the project.
American intelligence assessments now allegedly say any future effort to reclaim the enriched uranium – either through diplomacy or military force – would be far more difficult than it would have been just weeks ago.
The revelations come as talks over a possible U.S.-Iran deal continue and concerns remain about Tehran’s nuclear program and the future of its stockpile of enriched uranium.
