Is Pickaxe Mountain Connected to Iran’s Nuclear Program? Here’s why Trump wants to attack it | Today’s news
US President Donald Trump warned this week that the US would hit the Pickaxe Mountain area “very soon and very hard”. Earlier, in an interview on the Hugh Hewitt show, Trump said, “We have our eyes on it, and Pickaxe Mountain is a possible target for a nice fat shot right in the front door… We’re watching Pickaxe Mountain very closely. We don’t see any activity there.”
Where is Pickaxe Mountain located?
Pickaxe Mountain is a heavily fortified site that the US and Israel say is linked to Iran’s nuclear program. It is located near Iran’s badly damaged uranium enrichment facility at Natanz.
The Natanz site, home to two Iranian uranium enrichment plants, has been bombed before; during the war launched by the US and Israel on February 28 and during the 12-day war in 2025.
Read also | US Iran War News LIVE: Iran’s military says it attacked US military base in Kuwait
What did Iran build on Pickaxe Mountain?
The think tank said it has two pairs of entrances and that a security wall was recently completed around the facility. These entrances are assumed to lead to a single device, but this is not guaranteed.
Little is known about the complex near the Natanz nuclear facility, but it is estimated to be buried nearly 100 meters inside the mountain.
“The facility is estimated to be at least 100 meters deep under the mountain. The mountain is 1,608 meters above sea level,” it added.
The difference in height between the two sets of entrances of about 50 meters could also indicate that the facility has multiple levels.
Here’s everything you need to know about why Pickaxe Mountain is important:
There is no official confirmation that the Pickaxe Mountain area is harboring one of Iran’s nuclear facilities or complexes, or what kind of facility it is. But satellite images suggest the opposite.
Trump also said Iran “may have” stockpiled centrifuges used to enrich uranium, but that the U.S. “doesn’t have it on record.” He was responding to a question about reports that Israel had provided the US with intelligence indicating that Iran had moved centrifuges to the site.
Pickaxe Mountain is a heavily fortified site that hosts two deeply buried tunnel complexes that experts say are beyond the reach of the most powerful bunker busting bombs in the US arsenal. The site is linked to Iran’s nuclear program, Reuters reported.
The tunneling facility under construction was not previously a target of the June 2025 or 2026 war, except for the destruction of a vehicle on a nearby debris pile.
Is the “facility” at Pickaxe Mountain functional?
Evaluation of satellite images (until July 14, 2026)) by the Institute of Science and International Security (ISIS), a US non-proliferation think tank, showed that the facility is not yet operational, but construction is ongoing.
Read also | Why Israel is waiting for the last US bombing campaign in Iran
The institute says the nuclear facility is south of the Natanz uranium enrichment plant, which is part of a large perimeter secure compound that includes another smaller tunnel complex, originally built in 2007, which was expanded and strengthened in recent years and closed in June 2025 just after the war.
According to the report, the large mountain with the main tunnel complex is called Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, where Kolang translates to pickaxe, leading to the current nickname of the place.
What is Pickaxe Mountain used for?
The ISIS think tank, which analyzed satellite images of the site, said construction of the Pickaxe mountain “facility” began in the fall of 2020.
Iran announced at the time that the underground halls were to replace the destroyed above-ground facilities for assembling advanced centrifuges at the main Natanz plant, the report added.
The destroyed site was designed to build about 6,000 advanced centrifuges per year, a large capacity, designed to produce tens of thousands of advanced centrifuges during and after the end of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action limits from 2025 to 2030.
Read also | Democrats grill Pete Hegseth after revealing $37.5 billion cost of Iran war
Rafael Grossi, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), also said in March that Iran had previously announced its intention to conduct nuclear activity at Mount Pickaxe.
“It was part of their quite systematic plan to put their most sensitive equipment underground,” the Guardian said.
“However, it remains unclear when Pickaxe Mountain could be operational, based only on satellite imagery assessments. It is also unclear whether Iran still plans to install a large-scale assembly facility…,” the institute added.
What does US intelligence say?
According to Al Jazeera, US intelligence reports indicate that the facility was dug deep inside the mountain, under hundreds of meters of solid granite rock, to protect it from powerful bunker-busting bombs.
The report said intelligence agencies suspect Tehran is seeking to build a secret, undeclared uranium enrichment facility to serve as a “strategic safeguard” for its nuclear program, according to the US-based Al-Monitor website.
However, since construction began in 2020, Tehran has reportedly maintained that the facility is solely for the assembly and production of advanced centrifuges.
