U.S. President Donald J. Trump is weighing a military operation to extract nearly 1,000 pounds of highly-enriched uranium from at least two sites in Iran, a complex and risky mission that would likely put hundreds of American ground forces inside the country for days or longer, U.S. officials tell the Wall Street Journal.

An Iraqi Air Force An-32B Military Transport Aircraft was reportedly targeted by Iranian-backed militants during a drone and rocket attack earlier tonight on Baghdad International Airport.

Any move to seize the uranium by force would be complex and dangerous, former U.S. military officers and experts said, ranking among the most challenging operations ordered by Trump. The potential operation, which would likely trigger retaliation from Iran, could also lengthen the war well beyond the 4-6 week time frame that Trump’s team has publicly outlined. 

Teams of U.S. forces would need to fly to the sites, likely under fire from Iranian surface-to-air missiles and drones. Once on site, combat troops would need to secure perimeters so that engineers with excavating equipment could search through debris and check for mines and booby traps. 

The extraction of the material would likely need to be conducted by an elite special operations team specially trained to remove radioactive material from a conflict zone. The highly enriched uranium is likely contained in 40 to 50 special cylinders that resemble scuba tanks. They would need to be put into transportation casks to protect against accidents. That could fill several trucks, said Richard Nephew, a senior research scholar at Columbia University and a former nuclear negotiator with Iran.

Unless an airfield was available, a makeshift one would need to be set up to bring equipment in and take the nuclear material out. The entire operation would take days or even a week to complete, experts said. 

Image appears to show the damage caused to an Iraqi An-32B Military Transport Aircraft during a drone and rocket attack tonight by Iranian-backed militants on Baghdad International Airport.

U.S. President Donald J. Trump, in a post earlier on TruthSocial, referred to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is often considered “Europe’s Last Dictator” and has been in power since 1994, as “Highly Respected President Alexander Lukashenko,” adding that he looks forward to seeing him “at the next Board of Peace meeting!”

Sirens now in Bahrain.

Several hundred U.S. Special Operations Forces, including Army Rangers and Navy SEALs, have arrived in the Middle East, joining thousands of Marines and Army Paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division in a deployment meant to give President Trump additional options to expand the current monthlong Iran War, with planning underway for possible ground operations, two U.S. military officials have told The New York Times.

U.S. President Trump in a post moments ago on TruthSocial: “Big day in Iran. Many long sought after targets have been taken out and destroyed by our GREAT MILITARY, the finest and most lethal in the World. God bless you all! President DJT”

Israel, for the first time, is planning to propose to the Trump Administration the development of U.S. military bases on its soil, including the construction of new bases and the relocation of existing military bases in countries across the Middle East, senior officials tell Israel’s Channel 12.

New footage has been released showing last year’s collision between a Bombardier CRJ701ER Passenger Jet on approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, operating as American Airlines Flight 5342, and a U.S. Army UH-60L “Black Hawk” Helicopter, which occurred over the Potomac River in Arlington, Virginia, and resulted in the death of all crew and passengers onboard both aircraft, totaling 67.

Right before the market opens Monday, U.S. President Donald J. Trump makes a post on TruthSocial stating that the United States is in “serious discussions with A NEW, AND MORE REASONABLE, REGIME to end our Military Operations in Iran.” President Trump then adds, expanding on threats he has made before, if the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately opened, “we will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet touched.’ This will be in retribution for our many soldiers, and others, that Iran has butchered and killed over the old Regime's 47 year “Reign of Terror.”

Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles confirmed Monday that the leftist government has banned U.S. military aircraft involved in the Iran War from its airspace as well as air bases across the country, which include the strategically important Rota and Morón Air Force Bases. “This was made perfectly clear to the American military and forces from the very beginning. Therefore, neither the bases are authorized, nor, of course, is the use of Spanish airspace authorized for any actions related to the war in Iran,” Robles told reporters during a press conference Monday.

The U.S. Navy's newest Virginia-class fast attack submarine, USS Massachusetts (SSN-798), was commissioned into active service in a ceremony in Boston on Saturday (pictured below in the foreground with the U.S. Navy's oldest active ship, the USS Constitution.)

A U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress is refueled by a KC-135 Stratotanker during combat operations against Iran.

According to Business Insider, citing message in a press WhatsApp group, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been pressured by unnamed allies to limit Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil and gas infrastructure, amidst the “severe global energy crisis” caused by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. However, President Zelensky said that all Ukrainian strikes are in response to Russian aggression, adding that Ukraine is ready for a ceasefire when Russia is.

The Israel Defense Force has said that they struck an Iranian air-defense site near the Caspian Sea, as a part of ongoing operations to maintain air superiority, even 1,600 miles from Israel.

According to Al Arabiya English, as of March 29, Iran has launched 300 drones and 550 ballistic missiles at Israel and 1,119 missiles and 3,792 drones against its Gulf neighbors since the start of the conflict in the Middle East.