WASHINGTON — Former 2024 GOP presidential hopeful Nikki Haley said that the US will “probably” need to dispatch a special forces team to retrieve Iran’s uranium stockpile.
“That’s probably what it’s going to come down to. I mean, this is a special force mission. It would take about a week to ten days to get done. They know how to do it. It’s dangerous,” Haley told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“It’s not something that we can, you know, just sit and think is casual. I think they have to do it. But once they do that, they’re taking away literally one arm of the Iranian regime to where they no longer can threaten any of our allies.”
President Trump has reportedly considered greenlighting a high-risk operation to retrieve Iran’s enriched uranium stockpiles, which are thought to be buried deep underground after the US hit its nuclear sites with super-heavy bunker buster bombs.
However, so far, Trump has refrained from approving that operation. Instead, he has publicly warned Iran that the US is monitoring its nuclear sites via satellite and will strike if Iran attempts to recover its stockpiles.
Experts have suggested that if Iran’s stockpiles of uranium were fully enriched to 90%, they’d have enough material for at least 10 nuclear bombs.
Haley, who ran against Trump in 2024 for the GOP nomination, has largely supported the president’s military campaign against Iran. She indicated Sunday that she is not eyeing a 2028 presidential run and argued it’s too early to think about whom she may support.
“I will not,” she said when asked about running.
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