PDB Afternoon Bulletin | March 9th, 2026: Special Forces Raid Inside Iran? & Man Found Guilty of Iran-Backed Assassination Plot
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
It's Monday, the 9th of March. Welcome to the PDB Afternoon Bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right, let's get briefed. First up, airstrikes may have crippled Iran's nuclear infrastructure, but eliminating the stockpile of already enriched uranium could prove far more complicated. We'll take a look at new reporting that the U.S. and Israel are weighing special operations missions to secure Iran's uranium. Later in the show, a federal jury in Brooklyn has found a Pakistani national guilty of plotting to assassinate American politicians, including President Trump, in a scheme backed by Iran. But first, today's afternoon spotlight. One of the big questions hanging over the war with Iran right now isn't just about airstrikes or missile launches.
It's about what happens after the bombing stops. Much of the discussion so far has focused on regime change, what Iran's leadership might look like if the current government collapses, and how the country might be governed when the fighting ends. Well, the regime has gone some ways in answering that by declaring they have a new supreme leader. Apparently, they don't see regime change as in the cards. But there's another objective in this campaign that may prove just as complicated, eliminating Iran's ability to produce nuclear weapons. While destroying nuclear facilities from the air is an important part of that effort, it's not the same thing as eliminating the nuclear material that already exists.
So, the next question becomes, how do you actually secure the stockpile of enriched uranium that's held somewhere inside Iran? Well, according to new reporting from Axios, U.S. and Israeli officials are discussing the possibility of sending special operations forces into Iran at a later stage of the conflict to secure the regime's stockpile of highly enriched uranium. And we're not talking about a small amount of material. Before the war began, Iran was believed to possess roughly 450 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60% purity. That's about half a metric ton.
What airstrikes have affected Iran's nuclear infrastructure?
Now, that's not quite weapons grade, which is generally 90%, but it's dangerously close. With the right equipment, that stockpile could potentially be enriched to 90% in a matter of weeks, enough material for upwards of 11 nuclear weapons. Now, airstrikes have already done serious damage to Iran's nuclear infrastructure. U.S. and Israeli attacks targeted key facilities at Natanz and Isfahan and Fordow, destroying centrifuges and in some cases collapsing or sealing the entrances to underground complexes. But here's the complication. Those strikes may have shut down Iran's enrichment program for now, but they didn't necessarily destroy the uranium itself. Much of that material is believed to be sitting underground, particularly at the nuclear facility in Isfahan, where officials say the bulk of the stockpile was stored inside hardened tunnels.
And that creates a strange strategic problem. The uranium may now be trapped beneath rubble or behind closed entrances, but it still exists, which raises the question, if the goal is to ensure that Iran never turns that material into a weapon, will someone eventually have to secure it? And that's where these discussions about special operations come in. According to US officials, planners have explored the possibility of sending small teams of special operators into Iran once the country's military is no longer capable of mounting serious resistance. These wouldn't be large ground forces or anything resembling a conventional invasion. The teams could potentially include American or Israeli special forces working alongside scientists or technical experts, possibly even personnel from the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The mission would be straightforward in theory, but obviously extremely complicated in practice. First, operators would have to locate the material and then secure the site. And then comes the question of what to do with it. One option would be to physically remove the uranium from Iran and transport it out of the country, obviously under tight security.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:12–2:21
2
What airstrikes have affected Iran's nuclear infrastructure?
2:21–4:30
3
How are the U.S. and Israel planning to secure Iran's uranium?
4:30–6:38
4
What happens after airstrikes in Iran?
6:38–8:25
5
What are the challenges of eliminating Iran's nuclear material?
8:25–17:42
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