President Donald Trump continues to claim that the US will attack Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain – turning attention to the suspected underground nuclear site where Israel believes Tehran has stored part of its enriched uranium stockpile and advanced enrichment centrifuges.
Here’s what we know about Pickaxe Mountain:
What is it? Pickaxe Mountain is a heavily fortified facility located deep underground in the center of the country, about a mile south of the Natanz uranium-enrichment facility previously bombed by the US and Israel.
Construction on the facility began in 2020; at the time, Iran declared the facility to the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency as a future facility to assemble the centrifuges that make nuclear fuel. The facility is believed to not yet be operational, with construction ongoing.
Is there enriched uranium there? Israeli intelligence believes Iran moved part of its enriched uranium stockpile to Pickaxe Mountain after last June’s attacks, an Israeli source familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump on Tuesday, however, seemingly downplayed the Israeli reports, saying: “We don’t have it on record.”
Could it be attacked? Analysts have mixed opinions. While a ground operation would be complex, an Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) report pointed out several possible avenues for attack, including by exploiting ventilation, heating, cooling, deliveries, power supply, and personnel at the site.
Strikes, though, may not have the desired impact because the core part of the facility is likely deeply buried.
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