What is Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain? The nuclear site Trump says he will attack | World News
It has emerged as one of the most closely watched sites in Iran’s nuclear programme after US President Donald Trump threatened to target it in fresh remarks this week.It lies about 1.5 km south of the Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran. The site is dug into a mountain in the Zagros range, making it far more protected than Iran’s exing underground facilities.Satellite imagery analysed independent experts suggests Iran has been excavating two large tunnel complexes beneath the mountain since around 2020, The National reported, citing analysts.The site could eventually be used for uranium enrichment, centrifuge assembly, or storing Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium away from air attacks. Iran has not publicly disclosed the site’s exact purpose.
Presidential warnings broadcast on the Hugh Hewitt show
“We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready,” Trump said in an interview on the Hugh Hewitt Show.
The statement marked a significant escalation in Washington’s military campaign launched against Iran in February.
White House monitors underground activity
The US President added, “We’re watching (Pickaxe Mountain) closely. We see no activity there. They’re not doing well with their nuclear situation. Every time we hear about it, we blow it up. So they don’t like talking about it. But we’ll probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon.”
Strategic geography and tunnel complex design
Pickaxe Mountain is located south of Tehran near the heavily damaged Natanz nuclear facility.Story continues below this ad
The site conss of two deeply buried tunnel complexes that are situated within a heavily fortified mountain, and it apparently makes it difficult to attack, Al Jazeera reported.
Defensive granite shielding tests ordnance limits
The United States had targeted Iran’s large ammunition depot in Isfahan city with 900-kilogram bunker-buster bombs in June 2025.
These bombs tend to penetrate hardened targets, yet experts have indicated that tunnels in Pickaxe Mountain are reportedly beyond the reach of these bombs from the US arsenal.
US intelligence reports have suggested that Tehran has been excavating the Pickaxe Mountain facility beneath the solid granite rock in order to shield it from America’s bunker-buster bombs, Al Jazeera reported.
