{
    "success": true,
    "data": {
        "id": 1877931,
        "msgid": "inside-pickaxe-mountain-irans-nuclear-bunker-that-has-trump-on-edge-1784821930",
        "date": "2026-07-23 21:40:00",
        "title": "Inside Pickaxe Mountain: Iran's Nuclear Bunker That Has Trump on Edge",
        "author": "",
        "source": "CNBC",
        "tags": "",
        "topic": "Politics",
        "summary": "Tensions between the US and Iran have escalated after President Donald Trump threatened to strike the Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility, a deep underground site near Natanz. The complex, believed to be designed for advanced centrifuge assembly, is buried nearly 100 metres beneath a mountain, making it a challenging target for conventional air strikes. Experts suggest that while the facility may not yet be fully operational, its hardened defences highlight Iran's systematic effort to protect its most sensitive nuclear assets.",
        "content": "<p>Tensions between the United States (US) and Iran have flared up again\nafter President Donald Trump threatened to attack Pickaxe Mountain, an\nunderground nuclear facility near the Natanz uranium enrichment complex.\nDespite its long-standing notoriety, little information is known about\nthe facility, which is believed to be buried almost 100 metres inside\nthe mountain. Trump stressed that his administration remains committed\nto preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. He even stated that\nthe US military would \u2018hit that area in the near future, and very hard\u2019.\nHowever, Trump also acknowledged that US intelligence had not detected\nactivity at the site. \u2018They are not performing well with their nuclear\nsituation. Every time we hear about it, we blow it up. We may give\nPickaxe a chance in the relatively near future,\u2019 he said. Pickaxe\nMountain, known in Iran as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, is located about 220\nkilometres south of Tehran and only about 2 kilometres from the Natanz\nnuclear facility. Construction of the underground complex began in 2020\nfollowing a sabotage incident that damaged the Natanz facility. At the\ntime, former head of the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, Ali Akbar\nSalehi, said his country was building a \u2018more modern, larger, and more\ncomprehensive facility in the heart of the mountain near Natanz\u2019 to\nproduce advanced centrifuges. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)\nDirector General Rafael Grossi said Iran had indeed communicated plans\nto move some of its nuclear activities underground. \u2018This is part of\ntheir quite systematic intention to place their most sensitive\nfacilities underground,\u2019 Grossi said. Based on satellite imagery\nanalysis by the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS),\nthe complex has two pairs of tunnel entrances and has recently been\nfitted with security walls. As US and Israeli attacks have intensified,\none of the tunnel accesses has been reinforced and partially closed to\nhinder vehicle entry. Foreign Policy Research Institute researcher Sam\nLair assessed that reinforcing the tunnel entrance would make the\nfacility more difficult to destroy using bunker-buster bombs, indicating\nthat Iran continues to strengthen its defences despite rising threats.\nThe ISIS report also noted that the Pickaxe Mountain facility is likely\nnot yet fully operational as construction is ongoing. Nevertheless, the\ninstitute assessed that Iran could potentially use the complex as a\nsmaller-scale centrifuge assembly site to support its nuclear programme\nonce construction is complete. Experts consider the deeply buried\nfacility extremely difficult to destroy through air strikes, even with\nthe most advanced US bunker-buster bombs. Consequently, ISIS assessed\nthat ground operations or sabotage might be more effective, although air\nstrikes with earth-penetrating weapons could still exploit certain weak\npoints. There is currently no indication that Trump will deploy ground\ntroops to Iran. However, the latest threat against Pickaxe Mountain\nunderscores that the facility remains a key strategic target amid\nescalating tensions between Washington and Tehran over Iran\u2019s nuclear\nprogramme.<\/p>",
        "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/inside-pickaxe-mountain-irans-nuclear-bunker-that-has-trump-on-edge-1784821930",
        "image": ""
    },
    "sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
    "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}