What is Iran's Pickaxe Mountain and why does Trump say he wants to bomb it?
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to bomb a suspected underground nuclear site in Iran known as Pickaxe Mountain, where recent satellite images appear to show construction work taking place. Pickaxe Mountain is one of the few Iranian sites linked to the country's nuclear programme that has not been the target of US and Israeli strikes. There have been unproven claims that some of Iran's stock of highly enriched uranium may be kept there, which could be further enriched for use in nuclear weapons.
"We'll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily," Trump told reporters on 21 July. And on 28 July he said: "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." Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on 22 July that "no nuclear activity is taking place" at Pickaxe Mountain, and described US threats as "a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage."
What do we know about Pickaxe Mountain?
Kuh-e Kolang, which translates as Pickaxe Mountain, is located immediately south of the Natanz nuclear complex, Iran's largest uranium enrichment facility which has been bombed by both the US and Israel in 2025 and 2026. The site is believed to be buried deep inside the mountain and its exact purpose is shrouded in mystery and speculation. Tehran has previously indicated that it may be a replacement for a building within the Natanz complex used for the assembly of advanced centrifuges that was damaged after a suspected sabotage operation in July 2020. Former head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, said in September 2020 that "a more modern, spacious, and comprehensive facility" would be built in the mountains "near Natanz", without naming Pickaxe Mountain.
Centrifuges are needed to produce enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel for civilian use but also for nuclear weapons if enriched to around 90% purity or higher. The facility appears to have four tunnel entrances, two on the eastern side and two on the western end. Satellite images show that - over time - what appears to be a large perimeter fence has been built around the site, following the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June 2025. Images captured on 30 June 2026 show several construction vehicles near one of the western entrances. And in recent months, satellite imagery indicate continued work on access roads and tunnel entrances around Pickaxe Mountain.