What is Iran's Pickaxe Mountain and why does Trump say he wants to bomb it?

ByShayan Sardarizadeh, Jake Horton and Ghoncheh Habibiazad

BBC Verify and BBC Persian

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to weaponry a suspected underground atomic tract successful Iran known arsenic Pickaxe Mountain, wherever caller outer images look to amusement operation enactment taking place.

Pickaxe Mountain is 1 of the fewer Iranian sites linked to the country's atomic programme that has not been the people of US and Israeli strikes. There person been unproven claims that immoderate of Iran's banal of highly enriched uranium whitethorn beryllium kept there, which could beryllium further enriched for usage successful atomic weapons.

"We'll beryllium hitting that country beauteous soon, and precise heavily," Trump told reporters connected 21 July. And connected 28 July helium said: "I cognize precisely what's going connected astatine Pickaxe. It's not a large occupation - we took retired their atomic sites, and we'll person to instrumentality retired Pickaxe if we don't marque a deal."

Iran's overseas ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said connected 22 July that "no atomic enactment is taking place" astatine Pickaxe Mountain, and described US threats arsenic "a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage".

BBC Verify and BBC Persian person spoken to experts and analysed outer imagery to portion unneurotic what we cognize astir the site, and the imaginable interaction of immoderate strike.

Kuh-e Kolang, which translates arsenic Pickaxe Mountain, is located instantly southbound of the Natanz atomic complex, Iran's largest uranium enrichment installation which has been bombed by some the US and Israel successful 2025 and 2026.

The tract is believed to beryllium buried heavy wrong the upland and its nonstop intent is shrouded successful enigma and speculation.

Tehran has antecedently indicated that it whitethorn beryllium a replacement for a gathering wrong the Natanz analyzable utilized for the assembly of precocious centrifuges that was damaged aft a suspected sabotage cognition successful July 2020.

Former caput of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Ali Akbar Salehi, said successful September 2020, external that "a much modern, spacious, and broad facility" would beryllium built successful the mountains "near Natanz", without naming Pickaxe Mountain.

Centrifuges are needed to nutrient enriched uranium, which tin beryllium utilized to marque reactor substance for civilian usage but besides for atomic weapons if enriched to astir 90% purity oregon higher.

The installation appears to person 4 passageway entrances, 2 connected the eastbound broadside and 2 connected the occidental end. Satellite images amusement that - implicit clip - what appears to beryllium a ample perimeter obstruction has been built astir the site, pursuing the 12-day warfare betwixt Israel and Iran successful June 2025.

Images captured connected 30 June 2026 amusement respective operation vehicles adjacent 1 of the occidental entrances. And successful caller months, outer imagery bespeak continued enactment connected entree roads and passageway entrances astir Pickaxe Mountain.

According to analysis by the US-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), external, Iran has partially filled the 2 eastbound tunnels to artifact crushed access.

"In the past year, we person observed reasonably dependable operation enactment astatine the site," says Spencer Faragasso of the ISIS. "Iran's enactment determination has apt centred astir continued interior excavation and hardening of the installation that would supply further extortion against aerial attacks."

The tract astatine Pickaxe Mountain whitethorn person been chosen to support it from aerial strikes with some analysts estimating, external the halfway of the installation could beryllium astir 100m (328ft) underground.

This would besides mean it's buried deeper than Iran's 2 atomic enrichment complexes astatine Fordo and Natanz which the US bombed past twelvemonth utilizing what are known arsenic bunker buster bombs - the lone known limb that could conceivably scope specified concealed sites.

The US GBU-57 weaponry weighs astir 13,000kg (30,000lb) and is reported to capable to penetrate 18m (60ft) of factual oregon 61m (200ft) of world earlier exploding.

But adjacent utilizing these munitions, experts accidental the US would beryllium improbable to wholly destruct Pickaxe Mountain.

"Obliterating each underground enclosure would beryllium highly hard due to the fact that of the facility's extent and uncertain layout," says Arman Mahmoudian, a probe chap specialising successful Iran astatine the University of South Florida.

However, the US could people passageway entrances, communications systems, entree roads, and different supporting infrastructure, Mahmoudian adds, which "could paralyse the facility's operations adjacent if immoderate of its deepest underground sections survived".

Meanwhile, Faragasso says the tract whitethorn beryllium perchance susceptible and that "targeting the ventilation shafts would alteration the weapons to scope deeper into the facility, and the passageway portals tin beryllium collapsed utilizing bunker buster weapons".

Information astir precisely what is underground is not publically known, and it is unclear whether the installation is operational.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - the planetary atomic watchdog - has truthful acold not been fixed entree to Pickaxe Mountain by Tehran. Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the IAEA, said successful March that Iran had "announced their volition to person atomic enactment there", external.

"This was portion of their rather systematic volition to enactment their astir delicate facilities underground," Grossi added.

The IAEA estimated successful 2025, external that Iran holds astir 440kg (970lbs) of 60% enriched uranium,

There person been unproven claims that portion oregon each this stockpile whitethorn beryllium kept astatine Pickaxe Mountain, oregon that immoderate of the undamaged centrifuges astatine Natanz oregon Fordo may person been transferred there, external aft the bombings of some facilities.

"It is plausible that precocious worth items, specified arsenic uranium state centrifuges, were brought into and stored wrong the tunnels," says Faragasso. "We person seen tons of continuous and dependable motortruck question passim the site, entering and exiting the passageway portals, meaning it is imaginable that immoderate of those vehicles had moved items inside."

David Albright, the laminitis and President of the ISIS, says that the "concern is Pickaxe Mountain could beryllium a determination wherever Iran puts an enrichment works that could nutrient weapon-grade uranium for atomic weapons".

"None of this is happening arsenic acold arsenic we know, but the fearfulness is that it could crook into a spot to marque limb people uranium metal," Albright adds.

Tehran says its atomic programme is for peaceful civilian usage and denies immoderate volition to make atomic weapons.

Graphics by Tom Shiel.