US President Donald Trump has once again singled out Iran’s suspected underground nuclear facility at Pickaxe Mountain, warning that Washington could destroy the site quickly as part of its efforts to prevent Tehran from advancing its nuclear programme.
Speaking to reporters at his Florida residence on Saturday, Trump said the United States had already significantly weakened Iran’s military capabilities and destroyed much of its nuclear infrastructure but still had one or two remaining targets to address.
“We’ve knocked out their nuclear. We still have to take care of, I would say, one or two sites, but we can do that in 10 minutes,” Trump said.
Referring specifically to Pickaxe Mountain, also known as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, he added: “You probably could look at Pickaxe Mountain, and you have to take care of that. We can do that all very quickly.”
His latest remarks have renewed attention on one of Iran’s most strategically sensitive underground construction projects, located near the Natanz uranium enrichment complex in central Iran. The facility has attracted growing international scrutiny because of its suspected depth, extensive tunnel infrastructure and potential use as a protected location for sensitive nuclear activities.
Although there is no publicly confirmed evidence that uranium enrichment is currently taking place inside Pickaxe Mountain, Western and Israeli intelligence assessments have raised concerns that Iran could have moved centrifuges and highly enriched uranium into the underground complex following earlier American air strikes.
Trump’s repeated references to the site suggest that Washington considers it a potential obstacle to its efforts to limit Iran’s nuclear capabilities.
Pickaxe Mountain has featured repeatedly in Trump’s statements since July 2026, when he began publicly warning that the United States could attack the facility if Iran failed to reach an agreement with Washington.
During an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on July 13, Trump acknowledged that the site was on the American military’s target list.
“It is on the list. We’re watching it closely. We see no activity there,” he said, adding that the United States was monitoring developments around the complex.
Trump also suggested that an attack could happen soon. “We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready. Let them know we’re coming,” he said.
His remarks marked one of his clearest public warnings that the United States was considering a direct military operation against the underground complex.
A week later, on July 21, Trump again threatened to strike the area, saying American forces would hit it “pretty soon, and very heavily”. He claimed Iran would have little ability to prevent such an operation.
He also addressed reports that Tehran might be transferring centrifuges to the facility, although he said Washington had not established that such a movement had taken place.
“They may have. We don’t have it on record,” Trump said, adding that the presence of centrifuges would not necessarily be significant without nuclear material. “We follow the material. That’s where the action is.”
On July 28, Trump reiterated the warning in an interview with Fox News, saying the United States might have to attack Pickaxe Mountain if diplomatic negotiations failed.
“I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe. It’s not a big problem. We took out their nuclear sites, and we’ll have to take out Pickaxe if we don’t make a deal,” he said.
He added that the facility could be destroyed easily if Washington decided to proceed with an attack.
The warning resurfaced on September 9 during a Republican midterm convention in Dallas. Trump said American intelligence had detected some activity at Pickaxe Mountain and cautioned Tehran against taking steps that could provoke another military response.
“We notice there’s a little activity at Pickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard,” he said.
On October 16, Trump again raised the possibility of an attack during an interview with Newsmax. He said Iran’s nuclear infrastructure was buried beneath enormous quantities of rock and that Washington was examining the possibility of striking Pickaxe Mountain.
“Their nuclear is buried under millions of tons of mountain. Now we’re looking at Pickaxe Mountain. We may have to go there. We’ll take a shot at that one. We’ll knock it out fast,” he said.
Trump also ruled out using nuclear weapons, saying conventional military capabilities would be sufficient. He dismissed the possibility of deploying American ground troops in Iran.
The repeated warnings indicate that Pickaxe Mountain has become an important element in Washington’s assessment of Iran’s remaining nuclear infrastructure, particularly after the destruction or severe damage of several major nuclear facilities during earlier strikes.
Pickaxe Mountain, known in Persian as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, is a large underground tunnel complex located approximately two kilometres south of Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan province.
The site is considered strategically important because of its proximity to Natanz, one of Iran’s principal uranium enrichment centres, and the extensive underground construction designed to protect sensitive infrastructure from potential military attacks.
Construction reportedly began in 2020, following an explosion that damaged an above-ground workshop at Natanz used to manufacture or assemble advanced uranium-enrichment centrifuges.
Iran described the explosion as an act of sabotage. The incident raised concerns about the vulnerability of its nuclear infrastructure and accelerated plans to relocate sensitive operations to more heavily protected underground facilities.
At the time, Ali Akbar Salehi, then head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, announced that a replacement facility would be constructed inside a mountain near Natanz.
He described the planned complex as a facility that would be more modern, larger and more comprehensive than the damaged workshop.
The move towards underground construction reflected Iran’s growing concern that its nuclear infrastructure could be targeted by foreign military operations.
Unlike conventional industrial facilities, which can be damaged through relatively straightforward air strikes, deeply buried installations are considerably more difficult to destroy. Their survival depends on factors such as geological conditions, tunnel design, protective structures, access points and the depth of critical equipment.
Open-source assessments have suggested that parts of Pickaxe Mountain could be buried approximately 80 to 100 metres underground. However, the precise depth, internal layout and operational status of the complex have not been independently established.
According to analysis published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the facility consists of tunnels excavated into a mountain, with several protected entrances and an internal road network. Its design appears intended to make direct attacks on the underground structures more difficult.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has acknowledged that Iran announced plans to conduct nuclear-related activities at Pickaxe Mountain. However, the UN nuclear watchdog has repeatedly cautioned that it cannot establish what is happening inside the underground complex without physical access.
IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has said that the agency observed construction activity and movement around the site through satellite and other remote imagery.
“There are some indications that there is movement around this construction site,” Grossi said in September 2026. “We don’t have any concrete information as to activities that may be taking place there.”
The distinction is significant. Although satellite imagery can reveal construction, road development, tunnel entrances and movement around the complex, it cannot independently establish whether centrifuges have been installed or uranium enrichment has begun underground.
The IAEA has not been allowed to inspect the interior of Pickaxe Mountain.
Grossi has also explained that Iran previously announced its intention to establish nuclear-related activities at the location as part of a broader effort to move sensitive infrastructure underground following attacks on its facilities.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian defended Tehran’s position during an interview with NBC’s Tom Llamas on September 26, 2025. Responding to questions about construction at Pickaxe Mountain, he argued that international inspectors should be allowed to examine the site rather than relying exclusively on satellite photographs.
He questioned the reliability of conclusions drawn from remote imagery and said that physical inspections would provide more concrete and verifiable information.
However, Iran’s cooperation with the IAEA became increasingly restricted following the American and Israeli attacks on its nuclear facilities in June 2025. The restrictions have made it more difficult for international inspectors to establish the condition of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and account for nuclear material.
In July 2026, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said that no nuclear activity was taking place at Kolang Mountain. He described Washington’s growing attention to the site as a fabricated justification for aggression, destruction and sabotage.
The contrasting positions have left a major information gap: Iran denies nuclear activity at the location, while Western intelligence agencies suspect that the facility could eventually support sensitive nuclear operations.
Open-source assessments estimate that parts of the facility could be located approximately 80 to 100 metres beneath the mountain. If accurate, this would make it substantially more difficult to penetrate than several Iranian nuclear facilities targeted during the June 2025 American operation.
During Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, American forces attacked three major Iranian nuclear facilities: the Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plant, the Natanz Nuclear Facility and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center.
The operation involved B-2 Spirit stealth bombers carrying GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, commonly known as bunker busters, alongside Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from a submarine.
The GBU-57 weighs approximately 13,600 kilograms and was specifically developed to penetrate heavily reinforced underground structures before detonating. It is among the most powerful conventional penetrator weapons in the American arsenal.
However, its effectiveness depends on the depth, geological composition and structural characteristics of the target. A facility buried deep inside solid granite presents a different challenge from an installation protected by conventional concrete and earth.
This has raised questions about whether even America’s most powerful conventional bunker-busting weapons could destroy the critical underground sections of Pickaxe Mountain.
The possibility of using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, popularly known as the MOAB or the “Mother of All Bombs”, has also attracted attention. However, the MOAB is primarily designed to produce a massive surface blast rather than penetrate deeply buried underground installations. Its use would not automatically resolve the problem of reaching facilities protected by substantial layers of rock.
Military analysts have therefore questioned whether a conventional bombing campaign could completely eliminate the complex, even if American forces managed to damage its entrances, ventilation systems and supporting infrastructure.
The Center for Strategic and International Studies has assessed that the facility would be difficult to destroy even with the most powerful non-nuclear American munitions.
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Intelligence concerns over centrifuges and enriched uranium
The most serious concern surrounding Pickaxe Mountain involves reports that Iran may have relocated important elements of its nuclear programme into the underground tunnels following the June 2025 attacks.
According to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, based on American and Israeli officials, Israeli intelligence assessed that Iran had moved thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges into the complex during the months following the strikes.
CNN separately reported that Israeli intelligence also believed at least part of Iran’s approximately 440-kilogram stockpile of uranium enriched to 60 per cent might have been transferred to the facility.
These assessments have not been independently verified by the IAEA. Nor do they establish that enrichment operations are currently taking place inside Pickaxe Mountain.
The distinction matters because uranium enriched to 60 per cent is not itself weapons-grade uranium, which is generally considered to be enriched to approximately 90 per cent. However, material at 60 per cent can be further enriched, making the stockpile a significant proliferation concern.
The reported relocation of centrifuges and nuclear material could explain why Trump has repeatedly identified Pickaxe Mountain as a potential military target.
David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), has warned that the underground facility could eventually become a location for producing weapons-grade uranium.
“The concern is Pickaxe Mountain could be a location where Iran puts an enrichment plant that could produce weapon-grade uranium for nuclear weapons,” Albright said.
He stressed that there was no evidence that such activity was currently taking place, but warned about the possibility that the facility could be developed into a location for producing weapons-grade nuclear material.
A separate ISIS assessment published on October 16, 2026, said satellite imagery showed that access restrictions and blocked tunnel entrances remained in place. The organisation assessed that the facility was not operational and that major construction activity had apparently stalled at that time.
The assessment also highlighted the possibility that valuable equipment, including centrifuges and components, had been moved into the tunnels for protection rather than immediate operation.
Pickaxe Mountain has emerged as a particularly sensitive issue in the confrontation between Washington and Tehran because it combines two strategic concerns: the survival of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and the limits of American conventional military power.
For Washington, leaving a potentially operational underground nuclear facility untouched could undermine claims that its earlier military campaign had eliminated Iran’s ability to advance its nuclear programme.
For Tehran, the complex represents a potentially important element of its ability to protect sensitive infrastructure against future attacks.
However, an attack would carry significant risks. Destroying entrances or damaging tunnels would not necessarily eliminate nuclear material or equipment stored deep underground. It could also make subsequent international inspections more difficult, leaving uncertainty over the location and condition of uranium stocks and centrifuges.
The diplomatic implications are equally important. Without independent inspections, neither side can conclusively establish the facility’s operational status or resolve competing claims about the movement of nuclear material.
Trump’s latest remarks therefore signal that Pickaxe Mountain remains under consideration as a possible target even after the United States claimed to have destroyed much of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
Whether Washington will actually launch another operation remains uncertain. But the repeated threats underline a central problem facing American military planners: Iran’s most strategically important nuclear assets may now be located in places that are considerably harder to reach than the facilities already attacked.
For the IAEA, the immediate challenge remains gaining access and establishing what is actually inside the mountain. Until that happens, Pickaxe Mountain will remain both a major intelligence concern and a potential flashpoint in the continuing US-Iran confrontation.
- Editorial note: The intelligence claims about centrifuges and uranium transfers are attributed rather than presented as independently established facts. The precise depth and operational status of the facility also remain unverified.
