Dubai, July 22: US President Donald Trump has repeatedly issued threats to bomb an under-construction Iranian nuclear site buried deep under a mountain as the two nations exchange blows over the Strait of Hormuz.
The site, known as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or “Pickaxe Mountain,” lies on the south side of Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site, which was bombed by the United States during Operation Midnight Hammer in 2025’s 12-day war between Iran and Israel. But Pickaxe Mountain has remained untouched as Iran continues to dig at the site.
Trump on Tuesday talking with journalists in the Oval Office acknowledged the possibility Iran may have moved centrifuges there, potentially at a depth that would challenge even the most-powerful bombs in America’s arsenal.
“We’ll be hitting that area … probably pretty soon. And there’s not a thing they can do about it,” Trump said.
The new project at Pickaxe Mountain is being constructed next to Natanz, about 225 kilometres south of Tehran, Iran’s capital. Natanz, a mix of above- and underground facilities, has been a point of international concern since its existence became known two decades ago. Repeated sabotage attacks on Natanz, including one likely carried out by Israel that destroyed a manufacturing site for centrifuges, led Iranian officials to start work on the Pickaxe Mountain site. (AP)
