Iran Reportedly Tightens Security Around Near Weapons-Grade Uranium Stockpile, Sources Say

Iran has significantly increased efforts in recent weeks to seal off its stockpile of highly enriched uranium that is close to weapons-grade levels, according to five sources familiar with U.S. intelligence. According to Odaily, the sources said Iran has intentionally caused tunnel collapses and placed explosive mines at entrances, making access to the uranium more difficult, dangerous, and time-consuming than a month ago. A month earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump publicly suggested he might order the U.S. military to seize the nuclear material. The new Iranian measures add complexity to a proposed agreement between the Trump administration and Iran to remove and destroy Iran’s uranium stockpile, and raise the question of who would take on the dangerous task of digging out the material. The sources said that even for Iranians, moving the enriched material would now be difficult and hazardous, requiring heavy excavation equipment and mine-clearing operations.