Mike Baker

And then the mission begins.

Engineers would be brought in along with heavy excavation equipment, bulldozers, drilling rigs, the kind of gear that you'd expect on a major construction site, not a battlefield.

In some scenarios, they would even need to build a temporary runway to allow cargo aircraft to land and take off.

From there, teams would begin the slow, methodical process of digging down into the facility, cutting through concrete, rock, and protective shielding to reach the uranium.

Special operations units would move underground, working in protective gear, using sensors to detect radiation, and navigating an environment filled with unknowns.

There could be booby traps, it could be decoys, and every move carries a risk, not just from the enemy, but from the material itself.

The uranium is stored in sealed cylinders, relatively small, but of course, highly hazardous.

Damaging them could create contamination risks, adding another layer of complexity to the mission.

And all of this would be happening, of course, while US forces are operating deep inside hostile territory.

It's not a mission measured in minutes or hours, like the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Experts say this could take weeks, possibly longer.

It would require constant resupply of food, water, fuel, and equipment.

Mechanics, engineers, and nuclear specialists from the Department of Energy would likely be on the ground.

At that point, well, at that point, what you're really looking at is something closer to a temporary occupation rather than a traditional special operations raid.

It would be one of the most complex and dangerous missions that the US military has ever attempted, and casualties would be likely, and the margin for error, of course, would be thin.

But it also speaks to the stakes.

The administration has made clear that preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon remains a top priority.

Airstrikes can damage facilities, but they don't necessarily eliminate the material itself.

This option aims to do exactly that, remove it from the board entirely.

Still, the political and strategic implications are enormous.