🇺🇸🇮🇷⚡️ — The U.S. came close to considering a major ground operation to seize Iran’s highly enriched uranium, with Joint Chiefs Chairman Dan Caine making a rushed, secret visit to CENTCOM headquarters in Florida in May to review the plans before briefing President Trump, CNN reports.

The operation was ultimately paused due to concerns that it could trigger severe Iranian retaliation, prolong the war, damage the global economy, and lead to significant U.S. casualties.

Military planners assessed the mission as carrying “High to Extreme” risk, potentially requiring hundreds of special operations forces to enter heavily fortified underground nuclear sites.

While U.S. intelligence believes it knows the locations of the material (Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan), nuclear experts question whether it could be safely located and removed during a combat operation.

U.S. officials also assessed that Iran could retaliate economically by encouraging the Houthis to disrupt the Bab al-Mandab Strait, threatening global shipping and energy markets.