US President Donald Trump has threatened to attack a fortified underground nuclear facility in Iran known as Pickaxe Mountain. Speaking on Tuesday, Trump said, "We'll be hitting that area very probably pretty soon. And there’s not a thing they can do about it."
Pickaxe Mountain lies near Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment complex in central Iran. The facility is built beneath a mountain at least 100 metres deep, making it difficult to destroy from the air. Construction began in 2020 after an explosion damaged a centrifuge workshop at Natanz. Iran has told the International Atomic Energy Agency that the site would manufacture centrifuges for uranium enrichment.
Israel claims Iran moved enriched uranium and advanced centrifuges to Pickaxe Mountain after US and Israeli attacks damaged other nuclear sites last June. However, Trump acknowledged that Washington could not confirm this assertion. Iran denies undeclared nuclear work there.
In a separate threat, Trump warned that for every ship fired upon in the Strait of Hormuz, the US would destroy "a bridge or power plant." The remarks came amid rising tensions, with Brent crude oil prices surpassing $95 per barrel for the first time in nearly six weeks.
Tehran has warned that any strike on its nuclear facilities would widen the regional war.