U.S. President Donald Trump has issued a direct warning that American forces will “very soon, and very heavily” strike Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified underground nuclear facility in central Iran, as military operations between Washington and Tehran continue to widen.
Speaking alongside Lebanese President Joseph Aoun at the White House, Trump declared that any site where Iran attempts to reconstitute its nuclear capabilities will face severe bombardment, signaling a major potential expansion of the campaign beyond maritime shipping targets in the Gulf.
Located 140 miles south of Tehran and just over a mile from the Natanz nuclear complex, Pickaxe Mountain—known locally as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La—is carved more than 100 meters into solid bedrock. Engineered following 2020 sabotage attacks on above-ground facilities, the subterranean site is assessed by intelligence agencies to be deeper and more heavily fortified than Iran’s Fordow facility.
Recent Israeli intelligence reports shared with Washington indicate Tehran moved thousands of advanced uranium-enrichment centrifuges into the mountain’s hardened tunnel networks last fall to shield its nuclear program from airstrikes.
Iran’s joint military command responded swiftly to the President’s comments, warning that any assault on its nuclear or strategic infrastructure would unleash a “powerful assault” against U.S. military bases and regional allies. As both nations trade daily missile and drone strikes for eleven days across the Middle East, military analysts warn that targeting Pickaxe Mountain would mark a critical turning point, requiring heavy penetrating munitions and risking a broader regional escalation.
