Washington, DC [US], March 8 (ANI): The US and Israel have discussed the possible deployment of special forces into Iran to secure that country’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, Axios reported, citing four people familiar with the talks. Such an operation would be considered at a later stage of the ongoing conflict, reflecting a focus on Iranian nuclear assets as hostilities escalate.
United States Secretary of War Pete Hegseth amplified the hardline posture in a post shared by United States Central Command (CENTCOM) on X, warning that any actors who kill or threaten Americans “anywhere on earth” will be pursued and killed “without apology and without hesitation.” CENTCOM released a 21-second clip of unclassified footage showing vehicles and structures hit and destroyed by US forces, illustrating current military reach.
President Donald Trump has similarly asserted major successes against Iran, telling reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Miami that the US has “decimated their whole evil empire” and removed the Iranian leadership, calling it the excision of a “cancer.” He described the campaign as “winning the war by a lot” and listed what he said were significant strikes against Iranian capabilities: the destruction of 44 ships, the elimination of Iranian aircraft, and major damage to missile stocks and launchers. Trump claimed Iran’s ability to mount offensive strikes has been markedly reduced, saying missiles were “not coming much anymore,” drone capacity is diminished, and manufacturing sites have been heavily hit.
Responding to reports of a bombing of an elementary girls’ school in Iran, the President denied US responsibility and attributed the incident to failures and inaccuracy of Iranian munitions. When asked about the initial six-week projection for the mission, he declined to give a firm end date but said Iran’s military was “almost nonexistent” and left open the possibility of further strikes.
Trump also stated that Iran’s manufacturing output has been sharply reduced, estimating production at about nine percent of initial levels and saying roughly 70 percent of rockets and launchers had been knocked out. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff said a diplomatic breakthrough remains possible but would depend on the President, and noted that earlier talks faltered because Tehran was unwilling to compromise. According to Witkoff, Iranian negotiators asserted an “inalienable right to enrich,” boasted of having 60 percent enriched fuel—enough for 11 bombs—and indicated they would not yield diplomatically what could be taken militarily.
The reported deliberations on special forces follow a joint US-Israel operation on February 28 that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several top officials. Tehran responded with a large retaliatory campaign, launching drones and ballistic missiles at US assets and regional partners, including Israel, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan, elevating risks to civilians and expatriates across West Asia.
Concurrently, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the Israeli Air Force struck several fuel storage complexes in Tehran linked to the IRGC. In a post on X the IDF said the strikes, guided by IDF intelligence, targeted facilities used to distribute fuel to multiple Iranian military units and that the operation “significantly deepens the damage to the military infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime,” releasing a graphic identifying a Tehran fuel storage site used by Iran’s military forces.
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