Trump tells NY Post he is ‘nowhere near’ deciding to send troops to Iran to secure nuclear stockpile

WASHINGTON, March 9 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was “nowhere near” deciding whether to send U.S. troops into Iran to secure the stockpile of highly enriched uranium there.

“We haven’t made any decision on that. We’re nowhere near it,” Trump told the New York Post when asked about reported discussions between Israel and the United States on possibly deploying special forces to Iran to seize and secure the material.

A longstanding dispute over Iran’s nuclear program escalated into military conflict ten days ago, with the U.S. and Israel launching strikes against Iran and Iran responding with attacks across the Middle East. 

Without providing evidence, Trump said last month that Tehran was beginning to rebuild the nuclear program that he claimed had been “obliterated” by U.S. strikes in June last year.

Iran denies seeking a nuclear arsenal, saying its enrichment of uranium – a process that produces fuel for power plants and nuclear warheads depending on its duration – is strictly for civilian use.

(Reporting by Katharine Jackson; editing by Michelle Nichols)