Mike Baker

During an address to The Nation last night, President Trump said the U.S.

is now, quote, on track to complete its objectives, but warned the next two to three weeks could bring even more intense strikes if a deal with the Iranian regime isn't reached.

He described Iran's military as largely dismantled while signaling that the mission is entering its final phase.

But behind the scenes, the Pentagon continues to prepare for a variety of options.

New reporting from The Washington Post reveals just how far those options go and how risky they could be.

According to the report, the U.S.

military has presented the president with a plan to send American ground forces into Iran to seize its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

Now, this proposal came at Trump's request.

He asked for the option.

The Pentagon delivered.

But to be clear, no decision has been made.

And in fact, Trump walked back that option during his speech yesterday and in subsequent comments, implying that he wasn't worried about recovering the reportedly deeply buried enriched uranium.

He noted that the U.S.

will be always watching via satellites and can act if they see that the regime is attempting to recover it from underneath the mountain of rubble that it supposedly sits under.

But let's take a look at the Pentagon's planning, because in this conflict, circumstances, decisions, and ground truth seem to change hourly.

The target is roughly 1,000 pounds of uranium enriched to about 60%, just shy of weapons grade.

Most of that material is believed to be stored deep underground near Isfahan, with additional stockpiles at the Natanz nuclear facility and potentially other sites.

And when we say underground, well, what we mean is some of these materials are buried more than 300 feet below the surface inside reinforced tunnel complexes.

What the Pentagon has been drawing up as an option is potentially one of the most ambitious special operations missions ever attempted.

The operation would likely begin with a broad suppression campaign.