President Trump has issued his most direct warning yet that the United States will strike Iran’s fortified Pickaxe Mountain complex, a deeply buried facility believed to house a portion of Tehran’s near-weapons-grade uranium stockpile. The threat comes as American forces continue a tenth consecutive night of strikes against Iranian military targets, with the conflict now drawing in neighboring countries and claiming American service members’ lives. The standoff represents a dangerous new phase in the prolonged confrontation between Washington and Tehran.
Story Highlights
- Trump said the US will hit the area of Pickaxe Mountain, a fortified underground site near Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, “probably pretty soon”
- Israeli intelligence assesses Iran moved a portion of its roughly 440 kilograms of highly enriched uranium to the site after prior strikes on Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan
- US strikes on Iran have continued for ten consecutive nights, with American service members killed in related incidents in Jordan and Iraq
What Happened
President Trump told reporters that the United States would strike the area around Pickaxe Mountain, an underground Iranian facility built into a mountain roughly one mile south of the Natanz nuclear complex, saying the action would come “probably pretty soon.” The comments follow days of escalating rhetoric, including remarks Trump made earlier this month to conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt describing the site as a possible target for “a nice big fat shot right in the front door.”
Pickaxe Mountain, known in Iran as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, was not among the three nuclear facilities the United States struck during Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, when American forces targeted Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan. Israeli officials have since told American counterparts that Iran transferred centrifuges and a portion of its highly enriched uranium stockpile to Pickaxe Mountain last fall, following the earlier strikes. Iran is estimated to hold approximately 440 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60 percent, material that experts say could be further enriched to produce as many as 11 nuclear weapons.
The facility presents significant targeting challenges. Experts estimate the complex sits between 300 and 450 feet beneath solid granite, considerably deeper than Fordow, which was struck with 12 GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, the largest conventional bunker-buster in the U.S. arsenal, during the earlier operation. Analysts note that even repeated strikes on the same impact point may not fully collapse the facility, meaning any operation would likely aim to seal entrances, damage ventilation systems and disable construction equipment rather than fully destroy the underground caverns.
The renewed strikes have already produced American casualties. The Department of Defense confirmed that a U.S. service member, identified as Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, was killed during a controlled detonation of a downed Iranian drone at Erbil Air Base in Iraq. U.S. Central Command separately confirmed that two American soldiers were killed in Iranian strikes on Jordan. The conflict has also widened geographically, with Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan reporting they intercepted aerial attacks, while Iranian-backed Houthi forces in Yemen have warned Saudi vessels against using the Red Sea.
Why It Matters
A strike on Pickaxe Mountain would represent a major military and diplomatic escalation, potentially eliminating what analysts consider Iran’s most survivable remaining nuclear infrastructure while also risking a broader regional war. The facility’s depth means any American operation would test the limits of existing U.S. bunker-busting capability, and a failed or partial strike could leave Iran’s most sensitive nuclear assets intact while further inflaming tensions across the region.
For American troops stationed throughout the Middle East, the continuing exchange of strikes has already proven deadly, with service members killed in Jordan and Iraq in recent days. Any further escalation raises the likelihood of additional American casualties and increases pressure on the administration to define clear military objectives and an endgame for the conflict.
The stakes extend well beyond the immediate battlefield. Iran’s uranium stockpile, if fully recovered and further enriched, could provide the material basis for multiple nuclear weapons, a outcome that both American and Israeli officials have identified as a central war aim to prevent. The question of whether Pickaxe Mountain can be destroyed or merely damaged carries long-term implications for whether Iran retains any pathway to rebuilding its nuclear weapons capability in the years ahead.
Economic and Global Context
Munitions availability has emerged as a constraint on the administration’s strategy. Trump invoked the Defense Production Act last month to address shortfalls in weapons production following sustained combat operations, while the administration has struggled to secure congressional approval for an $80 billion defense supplemental package needed to replenish stockpiles, including bunker-buster bombs central to any Pickaxe Mountain operation.
The conflict has also reshaped American energy policy toward Iran. The Treasury Department issued General License X in June, authorizing the production, delivery and sale of Iranian-origin crude oil, petrochemical and petroleum products through August, a move that allows continued use of U.S. dollars in related transactions even amid the ongoing military confrontation.
Regionally, mediators including Qatar, Egypt and Pakistan have presented Washington and Tehran with a proposal for a ten-day ceasefire, according to regional officials. A senior U.S. official said the administration is reviewing the proposal but noted Trump has not finished responding to recent attacks on American personnel, suggesting any pause in hostilities remains uncertain. The administration has simultaneously urged Israel to avoid actions that could close the diplomatic window being pursued by regional mediators.
Implications
In the immediate term, military planners face a difficult calculation over whether and how to strike Pickaxe Mountain given its extreme depth and the limited effectiveness even the largest American bunker-buster demonstrated against comparably fortified sites. A decision to proceed would likely require sustained bombing runs and carries meaningful risk of falling short of fully destroying the facility.
For regional allies, continued strikes on Iran raise the prospect of further retaliation against American assets and partner nations across the Middle East, as seen already in attacks affecting Jordan, Iraq and Gulf states. Diplomatic officials from mediating countries will be watching closely for signs of whether Washington is willing to pause operations long enough to pursue the proposed ceasefire framework.
For Congress, pressure will likely intensify to approve the pending defense supplemental funding needed to sustain munitions production, particularly bunker-buster inventories that would be essential to any sustained campaign against deeply buried targets like Pickaxe Mountain. The coming days are likely to determine whether the conflict moves toward de-escalation through mediated talks or further intensifies with a direct strike on one of Iran’s most closely guarded nuclear sites.
Sources
“Trump says US will hit underground complex at Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain ‘pretty soon'”Â
