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\n In recent weeks, Iran has dramatically escalated efforts to seal off its cache of near bomb-grade uranium<\/a>, deliberately collapsing tunnels and booby-trapping entrances with explosive mines, according to five sources familiar with US intelligence.\n <\/p>\n \n Getting to the roughly half-a-ton of highly-enriched uranium is now far more difficult, dangerous and time-consuming than it already was just a month ago, when President Donald Trump was publicly signaling that he might order the US military to seize it, the sources said.\n <\/p>\n \n The new fortifications by the Iranians add an additional layer of complexity to the Trump administration\u2019s proposed deal<\/a> with Tehran to remove and destroy its uranium, and the move raises questions about who will take on the dangerous task of digging it out.\n <\/p>\n \n Iran\u2019s diplomatic delegation to the United Nations did not immediately return a request for comment, and the White House did not immediately reply to questions from CNN.\n <\/p>\n \n Trump has repeatedly stated that securing the material is a priority for the US in the ongoing negotiations to end the war and re-open the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively closed.\n <\/p>\n \n And according to a senior administration official who briefed reporters Friday<\/a>, the two sides are inching closer to a deal that would require Iran to turn its enriched uranium over to the US.\n <\/p>\n \n But US and Iranian officials have offered conflicting accounts of the tentative deal, and its precise terms remain unclear.\n <\/p>\n