Donald Trump is considering a military operation to extract almost 1,000lb of uranium from Iran, according to a report.
US officials told the Wall Street Journal that Mr Trump had not yet given the order as he was still weighing up the risk the operation posed to US troops.
The US president has urged his advisers to pressure Iran into surrendering its uranium as a condition for ending the war.
He also told the Financial Times that he could “take the oil in Iran” and potentially seize the country’s vital fuel hub of Kharg Island.
Mr Trump said: “To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options.”
Meanwhile, hundreds of US special operations forces have arrived in the Middle East, the New York Times reported, citing two US military officials.
The troops are yet to be assigned specific missions but they could be deployed to help safeguard the Strait of Hormuz, seize Kharg Island or extract uranium from Iran’s nuclear site.
The Telegraph