Reports say that the Israelis are considering sending a team of special forces to destroy Fordow, the Iranian nuclear site built deep beneath a mountain. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Blaine Holt told Newsmax on Thursday that they're likely already there.
"I think we've got the verbs all wrong," Holt said on "The Chris Salcedo Show."
"I think that team is on the ground and ready to go. And I think that the Israelis put this into their calculus. Look, they're brilliant strategists. They knew there was the possibility that they weren't going to see B-2s dropping bunker busters [bombs].
"That team would have to do the same mission, even if bunker busters went down into that thing. So, no, the Israelis understand there are alternate methods of getting at the Fordow facility.
"But here's the news flash: The news flash is it's not a clear and present danger to anybody," he continued. "The mullahs are not exactly in control of the country right now, and the IRGC [Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] is really iffy. So, the idea that Fordow is going to open up some big trapdoor and monstrous things are going to come out of it, that's just nonsense."
Fordow is Iran's most heavily fortified nuclear site and the only one at which International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have found particles of uranium refined to near weapons-grade purity. The United States is reportedly the only country that possesses the 30,000-pound bomb capable of reaching it.
The Fordow uranium enrichment plant is about 100 miles south of Tehran, outside the city of Qom.
In a revision of its original assessment, the IAEA said on Tuesday that Iran's underground uranium enrichment plant at Natanz was directly hit by an Israeli airstrike. The United Nations' nuclear watchdog originally reported that the nuclear complex had only been indirectly hit.
GET TODAY NEWSMAX+:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America with more than 30 million people watching!
Reuters Institute reports NEWSMAX is one of the top news brands in the U.S.
You need to watch NEWSMAX today.
Get it with great shows from Rob Schmitt, Greta Van Susteren, Greg Kelly, Carl Higbie, Rob Finnerty – and many more!
Find the NEWSMAX channel on your cable system – Go Here Now
BEST OFFER:
Sign up for NEWSMAX+ and get NEWSMAX, our streaming channel NEWSMAX2 and our military channel World at War.
Find hundreds of shows, movies and specials.
Even get Jon Voight's special series and President Trump's comedy programs and much more!
Watch NEWSMAX+ on your smartphone or home TV app.
Watch NEWSMAX anytime, anywhere!
Start your FREE trial now: NewsmaxPlus.com
Nicole Weatherholtz ✉
Nicole Weatherholtz, a Newsmax general assignment reporter covers news, politics, and culture. She is a National Newspaper Association award-winning journalist.