US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that American forces must conduct a mission into Iran to secure nuclear assets following aerial bombardments that buried Tehran's enrichment facilities.
"Now we're going to take a hit, because we have to make a journey down to Iran to take the nuclear weapon," Trump told reporters.
He appeared to refer to 1,000 pounds (453.6 kilograms) of enriched uranium reportedly trapped under the debris of sites targeted during the US-Israeli offensive last June. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi confirmed the material is "under the rubble" with no immediate plans to retrieve it.
The US president asserted that Washington effectively destroyed Tehran's nuclear capabilities. "We blew up their nuclear potential. It was obliterated," he noted, adding that it would take the Iranians weeks to reach the material and that the US "wouldn't let them dig down" because the military maintains constant surveillance.
Trump maintained that Tehran recognizes it has "no chance," despite public claims to the contrary. "They express it to me when I talk to them, then they get on television, they say how well they're doing," he claimed.
"They don't like playing games with us. They don't like it at all," said Trump.
