ByJERUSALEM POST STAFFJUNE 13, 2026 00:44The United States was in an "advanced" stage of planning to launch a ground mission into Iran to recover the regime's enriched uranium, but US President Donald Trump paused the operation, according to a CNN report on Friday.The report cited two sources familiar with the matter, who told CNN that US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine had briefed Trump on the mission, who then decided against it after warnings that such an operation could lead to significant US losses.According to CNN, Caine rushed from a NATO meeting in Brussels to Tampa, Florida, on May 19 to brief Trump, suggesting that the US was very close to approving the mission before Trump put the brakes on.Also influencing Trump's decision were a likely escalation of hostilities between the US and Iran and increased pressure on the global economy, according to the report.One source told CNN that the potential mission involved "lots of risk," including potentially severe retaliation from the Islamic Republic.US President Donald Trump speaks before signing a proclamation in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 11, 2026. (credit: Kent NISHIMURA / AFP via Getty Images)CNN reached out to a spokesperson for the US Joint Staff, who declined to comment on the mission.Deal to include dismantling of nuclear programReuters reported on Friday that the emerging US-Iran deal will include the dismantling of the Iranian nuclear program and allow the US to collect the regime's enriched uranium.A senior US official told Reuters that the deal also includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and the lifting of a US blockade on Iranian ports.In addition, the source stated that Iran committed under the deal to never develop a nuclear weapon, with the deal itself an important step in that direction.Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced in a social media post on Friday that the deal's text had been agreed upon by both the US and Iran.Goldie Katz and Ariella Roitman contributed to this report.Follow us on Google