Can the US seize Iran’s enriched uranium – and what are the risks?

Al Jazeera · 🇶🇦 public Qatar · Apr 02, 2026 · 1199 words · By Virginia Pietromarchi

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What to know about Can the US seize Iran’s enriched uranium – and what are the risks?

Al Jazeera reports: Can the US seize Iran’s enriched uranium – and what are the risks?.

Claims checked 27

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center83%

Right17%

6 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Al Jazeera reports: Can the US seize Iran’s enriched uranium – and what are the risks?.

Why it matters

A military operation would pose chemical, logistical, and tactical hurdles, experts say.

Common ground

United States President Donald Trump is reportedly considering dispatching US special forces to Iran to seize the country’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium in what experts say would be a complicated and risky military operation.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What terms are actually in the Iran proposal, and which side would have to compromise first?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Nothing can happen while bombs are falling?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/2/can-the-us-seize-irans-enriched-uranium-…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 27 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

schedule Pending 17

help Insufficient Evidence 7

verified Verified By Reference 3

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Claim 1: “Nothing can happen while bombs are falling”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 2: “The US Army has three special units called Army Nuclear Disablement Teams, which are trained to dismantle and destroy nuclear equipment and materials”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 3: “It would be difficult to determine whether all cylinders had been destroyed, leaving the risk that Iran could retrieve enough to manufacture a nuclear weapon”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 4: “US forces would need to be transported over a very long distance through an active warzone”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 5: “The uranium hexafluoride cylinders would have to be kept at a distance from each other to prevent a radiation burst”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 6: “The IAEA is considering a similar option for Iran as was used in Project Sapphire”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 7: “Trump withdrew the US from this agreement during his first term as president”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 8: “Almost half of the 60-percent-enriched uranium was probably still being stored in the tunnel complex at Iran’s Isfahan nuclear facility”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 9: “Iran maintains that its nuclear programme is for civilian energy purposes only, despite having enriched uranium far beyond the threshold required for that”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 10: “They would also have to bring in heavy equipment, including excavators, as tunnel entrances are believed to be buried under rubble following US-Israeli aerial attacks”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 11: “Isfahan, where about half of the enriched uranium is believed to be stored, is more than 480 kilometres (about 300 miles) inland”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 12: “That amount is enough, theoretically, to produce more than 10 nuclear warheads”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 13: “These two underground nuclear sites, along with a third at Fordow, were destroyed or badly damaged in US-Israeli air strikes in the 12-day war last year and have been targeted during the current conflict”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 14: “A military ground operation to extract the uranium would face significant chemical, logistical, and tactical hurdles”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 15: “An unknown quantity is also believed to be stored at the Natanz facility”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 16: “Any damage to the cylinders during transport could trigger the release of toxic chemicals, posing a radiological hazard”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 17: “Once there, ground forces would have to secure a substantial perimeter around the site and then hold that territory for as long as the operation to dig the nuclear material out from the underground facilities may take”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 18: “The US bombed Iranian nuclear facilities during Iran’s 12-day war with Israel last year and for starting the ongoing conflict in February, despite being in active talks with Iran at the time”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it verified by reference based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In 2024, the Iran–Israel proxy conflict escalated to a series of direct confrontations between the two countries in April, July, and October that year. On 1 April, Israel bombed an Iranian consulate c…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Iran–Israel_conflict

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Since the 2026 Iran war began with a series of attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, 2026, following the breakdown of US-Iran talks and negotiations, locations across Is…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iranian_strikes_on_Israel

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Iran and Israel have not maintained a formal diplomatic relationship with each other since the Islamic Revolution in 1979. Beginning in the mid-1980s, the Iran–Israel proxy conflict has grown to large…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran–Israel_relations

schedule

Claim 19: “Exploding the stockpile would chemically contaminate the immediate surroundings with toxic uranyl fluoride”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 20: “Currently, Iran is believed to have about 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60 percent”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

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Claim 21: “The uranium is most likely being stored in the form of hexafluoride gas”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

help

Claim 22: “Under that, Iran agreed not to enrich uranium to high levels and to be subjected to frequent inspections”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 23: “Ensuring that Iran has no nuclear weapons, nor the capacity to produce any using enriched uranium, has been one of the US’s main stated demands during talks with Iranian officials over the past year”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it verified by reference based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — On June 22, 2025, the United States Air Force and Navy attacked three nuclear facilities in Iran as part of the Twelve-Day War, under the code name Operation Midnight Hammer. The Fordow Uranium Enrich…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_United_States_strikes_on_…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — On April 12, 2025, Iran and the United States began a series of negotiations aimed at reaching a nuclear peace agreement, following a letter from U.S. president Donald Trump to Iranian supreme leader …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025–2026_Iran–United_States_n…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Relations between Iran and the United States in modern-day are unsettled and have a troubled history. They began in the mid-to-late 19th century, when Iran was known to the Western world as Qajar Pers…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran–United_States_relations

help

Claim 24: “In 2015, the former Obama administration negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran and other nations”

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it insufficient evidence based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

schedule

Claim 25: “Grossi told CBS News in late March that the IAEA is considering a similar option for Iran”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

verified

Claim 26: “United States President Donald Trump is reportedly considering dispatching US special forces to Iran to seize the country’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium”

VERIFIED BY REFERENCE

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it verified by reference based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

menu_book

wikipedia NEUTRAL — On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel started a war with surprise airstrikes on sites and cities across Iran, assassinating Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several other Iranian officials …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Iran_war

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Donald Trump's second and current tenure as the president of the United States began upon his inauguration as the 47th president on January 20, 2025. Trump, a Republican, previously served as the 45th…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_presidency_of_Donald_Tr…

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Claim 27: “The uranium hexafluoride must be stored in small, separated canisters to prevent neutrons from multiplying out of control and causing an intense radiation burst”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.