President Donald Trump identifies Iran's underground Pickaxe Mountain site as a potential target for a major airstrike.
President Donald Trump stated that the Pickaxe Mountain site in Iran is a "possible target for a nice big fat shot" as the administration continues its campaign to destabilize the Iranian regime. Located about one mile south of the Natanz nuclear complex, the site is buried 300 to 450 feet beneath solid granite. Israeli intelligence sources report that Iran moved thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges into these deep tunnels last year following the Twelve-Day War. While the administration announced that previous strikes "obliterated" Iran's capabilities at the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan facilities, Pickaxe Mountain remains a significant concern due to its depth and covert nature. Iran has not granted the International Atomic Energy Agency access to the site, leading to concerns about a potential covert nuclear breakout. The site was commissioned after a 2020 explosion damaged a previous assembly location. As fighting flares up again following the collapse of a recent memorandum of understanding, the administration remains prepared to strike the mountain to further weaken Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile capacities.