Trump says US 'may have to' strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site in future: news

Trump Weighs Strike on Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain Nuclear Facility

Former and current geopolitical rhetoric surrounding Iran’s nuclear program escalated after Donald Trump stated that the United States “may have to” target Iran’s heavily fortified Pickaxe Mountain nuclear complex in the future.

Key Developments and Statements

• Potential Air Operation: In recent remarks, Trump indicated that U.S. planners are closely reviewing the underground Pickaxe Mountain facility (locally referred to near the Natanz area as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La), declaring, “We may have to go there… We’ll take a shot at that one. We’ll knock it out fast”.

  Indiatimes

• Conventional Ordnance Over Nuclear Action: Trump ruled out the deployment of nuclear weapons or American ground forces, asserting that non-nuclear military capabilities are sufficient to eliminate underground threats without ground invasions.

  Fox News

• Focus on Advanced Munitions: Discussion among military strategists has centered on conventional heavy penetration ordnance and massive blast systems, such as the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB) and specialized bunker busters, to target subterranean infrastructure.

  India Today

• Tehran’s Response: Iranian officials have rejected U.S. claims regarding covert enrichment activities inside the facility, stating that the mountain houses assembly operations and describing foreign threats as manufactured pretexts for military aggression.

  Indiatimes

Significance of the Pickaxe Mountain Facility

The Pickaxe Mountain underground network features deep tunneling reinforced beneath layers of rock, designed to protect sensitive centrifuge manufacturing and enrichment infrastructure from standard airstrikes. Defense analysts continue to debate the vulnerability of such deeply buried fortifications to conventional air campaigns and the broader diplomatic ramifications of targeting fortified Iranian nuclear installations.