The war in Iran escalates again. Although a little over a month ago the signing of the memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran gave a glimpse for a moment of the end of the conflict that began in February, all hopes are fading as the exchange of attacks intensifies in the region and war rhetoric resurfaces.
After nearly eleven nights of bombings focused largely on civil and military infrastructure, Donald Trump has returned the focus on Pickaxe Mountaina strategic location to which he already referred on previous occasions, located in the vicinity of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility. The president insisted that “he would attack that area very soon and with great force“Now, why is Pickaxe so important and what is known about it?
What does Pickaxe Mountain hide?
Pickaxe Mountain or Kuh-e Kolang Gaz Laas it is known in Iran, houses a fortified underground site, located about 200 kilometers from the capital, Tehran, and two kilometers from Natanz, which was bombed both in the Twelve Day War in 2025 and in this latest conflict. The Iranian regime has traditionally taken advantage of the country’s mountainous terrain to hide and protect strategic assets – such as ballistic missiles, drones and uranium enrichment facilities – from its adversaries or, at least, to make possible attacks more difficult.
In this context, there is no evidence that Pickaxe has been the target of the latest rounds of attacks by the US and Israel. The facility is located about 100 meters under the mountain, as revealed by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), and its construction began in 2020.
CNN reports that at that time Iran declared before the UN International Atomic Energy Agency that it was a facility for Assemble centrifuges for uranium enrichmentsince Natanz had been the subject of an act of sabotage. Currently there is not much more information about it.
Analysis of satellite images carried out by ISIS indicates that it is still under construction, so “it is not yet operational.” However, activity around it had been reinforced following the attacks of the Twelve Day War. The photographs also reveal that Pickaxe has two fortified entrances, a wide security perimeter and several tunnel complexes.
Why is it so important to Trump?
Of course, it is also unclear whether the activity carried out within it is limited to the construction of centrifuges, as Tehran officially maintains. Here come into play the hypotheses of the Israeli secret services, which assure that Tehran moved parts of its enriched uranium reserves and centrifuges to their depths after the 2025 attacks. However, when asked about this, Trump stated: “We have no evidence of this,” while Tehran has also denied it.
In any case, the facility continues to generate interest in the United States, where authorities defend its links to the Iranian nuclear program that they wish to neutralize, as they have stated on numerous occasions.