Pickaxe Mountain: Secret Iranian Site at the Center of Trump's Warning

US President Donald Trump has threatened to strike Iran's Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified site believed to house a sensitive underground facility, as tensions between Washington and Tehran continue to escalate.

Speaking during an interview on July 13, Trump issued a stark warning to Iran.

"We're going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready," Trump said.

What Is Pickaxe Mountain and Why Does It Matter?

Pickaxe Mountain, also known as Kolang Gaz La, is part of Iran's Zagros mountain range. It lies near the uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, one of three Iranian nuclear sites targeted by US strikes on June 22, 2025, alongside facilities in Fordow and Isfahan.

According to reports published by The Washington Post in September 2025, satellite imagery indicated that Iran had accelerated construction of a secret underground complex beneath the mountain by extending tunnels deep into the Zagros range. Iranian authorities have previously said the project, which reportedly began in 2020, was intended for the production and assembly of uranium enrichment centrifuges.

Military analysts cited by Reuters have argued that the underground facility sits beyond the reach of even the most powerful bunker-buster bombs in the US arsenal. Al Jazeera reported that the complex consists of two extensive tunnel networks buried beneath hundreds of meters of solid granite, making its complete destruction highly unlikely.

US-Iran Hostilities Continue to Intensify

The latest threat comes after Trump declared on July 8 that the ceasefire between the United States and Iran had effectively ended following a new exchange of military strikes. On the night of July 12, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, demanding that Washington end its military involvement in the region.

The United States responded to attacks on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz with a new wave of airstrikes on Iranian territory. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps then launched missiles and drones at US military facilities in Jordan, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman.

The two countries continued exchanging strikes on July 13 and 14. According to The New York Times, the latest US operation against Iran lasted approximately five hours, while Trump reportedly notified Congress that military operations against Iran had resumed.