Trump says Space Force is monitoring Iran's nuclear sites with ‘powerful cameras’

WASHINGTON, DC: President Donald Trump said on Thursday, June 4, that the United States is using Space Force surveillance assets to monitor Iran’s damaged nuclear facilities, arguing that any effort by Tehran to access uranium buried beneath the sites would be quickly detected.

The commander-in-chief said the US has extensive camera coverage over the locations and dismissed suggestions that American forces need to enter the sites to retrieve the remaining nuclear material. Trump also revealed that the administration had previously considered a mission to recover the uranium but ultimately decided against it because of operational risks. 

Trump says the US has cameras on 'every inch' of Iran's nuclear sites

Trump said the US maintains close surveillance of Iran’s damaged nuclear facilities through Space Force capabilities. “Every inch of that land has cameras on it,” he said. “We have about nine of them, and they’re on, and we cover it. So, if anybody even got near it, we would know what we had to.”

The president argued that the buried uranium does not currently pose an immediate threat because of the depth at which it remains stored and the difficulty of accessing it without detection.

He also rejected the notion that American troops need to be deployed to retrieve the material, saying, “I don’t think (Iran) could stop us if we wanted, but there’s no reason to.” He added, “We have very powerful cameras."

According to the president, US officials evaluated a possible operation to recover the uranium before military strikes severely degraded Iran’s military capabilities. “There was a time, at the very beginning, when we thought about doing that, because they would have not been watching, but they would have found out,” he said. 

Trump said the administration concluded that a retrieval mission would be far more complex than some had suggested. 

“It’s not like Venezuela where you go in, you’re there for a matter of minutes and you’re out,” he shared. “This is different. You have to be there for two weeks, you’d need massive equipment. You’d have to airlift the equipment, and you know you’re in a war zone.”

Trump's remarks come amid ongoing debate over Iran’s nuclear program

Trump’s comments follow renewed scrutiny of Iran’s nuclear program and the effectiveness of military action against Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure. The president said earlier this week that Iranian officials had agreed not to pursue nuclear weapons, though he acknowledged that position could change.

“They’ve already agreed they’re not going to have a nuclear weapon,” the president said during an interview on the 'Pod Force One' podcast. “I mean, now they can change their mind, but that was one of the things they’ve had to agree.” Iranian officials disputed that characterization. 

Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts remain ongoing more than three months into the conflict. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told lawmakers this week that negotiations with Iran continue and said Tehran has shown a willingness to discuss aspects of its nuclear program that it previously refused to negotiate.