What is Pickaxe Mountain? Inside the Iranian nuclear site being threatened by Trump

US President Donald Trump signaled that the United States could strike Pickaxe Mountain—a deeply buried subterranean complex near Natanz—"very soon" if suspicious operations resume at the facility.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump asserted that the US Space Force and satellite intelligence are closely monitoring movement around the site.

"We're leading in space. We know everybody that's moving at Pickaxe, we know everybody that's moving everywhere, all over Iran, and if anything goes bad, we hit them. We hit them hard," Donald Trump said on September 4.

His warnings rekindle intense focus on one of Iran’s most heavily protected infrastructure projects, raising questions about what the site contains, its historical target status, and whether modern weaponry can compromise it.

What is Pickaxe Mountain? 

Pickaxe Mountain (known locally in Persian as Kūh-e Kolang) is a hard-rock mountain peak situated approximately 1.5 kilometers (1 mile) south of the main Natanz uranium enrichment complex in Iran's Isfahan province.

Excavation into the granite began in late 2020 following sabotage explosions at the above-ground Natanz centrifuge assembly plant. Iranian officials designed the Pickaxe Mountain site specifically to withstand sabotage and heavy bombardments.

While Tehran insists the subterranean complex is intended solely for legitimate technical work, Western and Israeli intelligence agencies suspect the deep tunnels could be utilized to house enriched uranium stockpiles or conduct covert enrichment beyond the view of international inspectors.

Was Pickaxe Mountain hit by the US earlier? 

No. Pickaxe Mountain has not been struck by US or allied forces during previous military actions.

When air strikes targeted Iranian nuclear installations in mid-2025 and earlier periods in 2026, attacks were concentrated on the primary above-ground Natanz facility and other known operational centers.

Pickaxe Mountain remained untouched, largely because intelligence indicated the underground tunnel network was still under construction and not yet fully operational.

However, the US military strategy around the site involves distinct logistical considerations:

• Extreme Depth: Dug more than 300 feet under solid granite, the facility is significantly deeper underground than Iran's Fordow enrichment site. 
• Bunker-Buster Limits: Defense analysts continue to debate whether conventional bunker-busting munitions — such as the 30,000-pound GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) — can completely collapse tunnels excavated at such depth. 
• Potential Targets: Experts note that even if deep underground halls resist a direct blast, air strikes can collapse access portals, destroy surface ventilation, or cut electrical infrastructure, effectively disabling the complex. 

What the latest threat means 

Trump’s latest statements follow months of rhetorical warnings aimed at Tehran's nuclear programme. Intelligence assessments provided by allied regional partners suggest Iran may have recently shifted sensitive centrifuge equipment or stockpiles into the fortified mountain tunnels to safeguard them against ongoing military pressure.

Iranian defense officials have warned that any direct attack on the Pickaxe complex would trigger heavy retaliatory measures, describing the site as one of the most heavily fortified positions in the country's defense network.