Overview
- President Donald Trump said the United States would likely strike Pickaxe Mountain soon, a public threat he made at the White House on July 21 and repeated the following days.
- Israeli intelligence told U.S. agencies that Iran moved large numbers of centrifuges and possibly part of its stock of highly enriched uranium into deep tunnels under the site, according to multiple news reports.
- Independent analysis by the Institute for Science and International Security and commercial satellite images show multiple fortified tunnel entrances, truck traffic and new security perimeters but conclude the complex is not clearly operational and appears to be at least 100 meters deep.
- Military analysts are divided about how to neutralize the site because deep burial limits the effect of even the most powerful bunker‑buster munitions while leaving potential vulnerabilities at ventilation shafts, power lines and tunnel access points.
- Iran formally denies any nuclear activity at Pickaxe Mountain, the AIEA says it has no access to the site, and experts warn a U.S. or Israeli strike could trigger major escalation that would endanger civilians and widen the conflict in the region.