Amid a dangerous new escalation in the Middle East, a suspected Iranian nuclear facility buried deep beneath a granite mountain has become a focus of attention. Satellite imagery has revealed a sharp surge in construction activity as the US weighs options to strike Iran’s most heavily protected underground sites.
According to an analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), cited by CNNthe Pickaxe Mountain facility near Iran’s Natanz nuclear complex has seen “a clear surge in construction activity” this year. Analysts examined six years of satellite imagery and found that work has increasingly shifted towards reinforcing the underground complex and developing infrastructure around it.
The facility, located about 140 miles south of Tehran, is considered “likely” to have been designed as a protected site for Iran’s nuclear programme.
The underground complex has also attracted attention because of its location inside a granite mountain, making it a particularly difficult target. CSIS analysts say it could potentially serve as a centrifuge assembly facility, an enrichment site or a protected location for other nuclear-related activities.
Israeli intelligence has reportedly suggested that Iran may seek to move centrifuges or related equipment to the facility, although satellite imagery cannot independently confirm that claim.
TRUMP THREATENS TO STRIKE PICKAXE
It has also emerged as a potential target in discussions about US military options against Iran.
“We may hit Pickaxe very soon,” Trump told reporters last week, adding that “we know everybody that’s moving” at the site.
However, striking the facility could prove considerably more difficult than attacking conventional targets. CSIS analysts said the granite mountain could pose a challenge even to the Pentagon’s most powerful non-nuclear bunker-busting weapons.
US LOOKS FOR WAYS TO HIT DEEP TARGETS
According to CNNthe US is improving its ability to attack deeply buried facilities.
Four days before the US launched Operation Epic Fury, a Pentagon agency responsible for countering weapons of mass destruction approved an emergency 1.2 million dollar contract to repair a subterranean testing facility at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
The contract described the work as preparation for a “live-fire test designed to validate classified capabilities against rapidly emerging threats”. As per CNNthe testing was connected to the Iran conflict and efforts to develop ways of striking deeply buried Iranian facilities.
Satellite imagery reviewed by CNN showed excavation activity beginning at the White Sands site in February. Work continued into March before appearing to stop.
The US has previously used bunker-busting weapons against Iranian nuclear sites. During Operation Midnight Hammer in June 2025, American forces struck several locations linked to Iran’s nuclear programme.
However, the depth of some facilities has remained a major obstacle. The Pentagon has been working on a “next generation penetrator” designed to reach targets buried deeper underground than current weapons can reliably penetrate.
Despite the activity, the CSIS team cautioned that the facility may not yet be ready for uranium enrichment if that is its intended purpose.
WAR ESCALATES AS US, IRAN TARGET SHIPPING
At the same time, Iran and the US have sharply escalated their attacks on shippingwith Tehran saying it struck 10 vessels near the Strait of Hormuz after Washington destroyed five Iranian oil tankers. The exchanges mark the biggest reported wave of tit-for-tat attacks on commercial shipping since the war began six months ago.
Iran also said it launched ballistic missiles at a facility used by US forces in Jordan. The Revolutionary Guards warned that any further attacks on Iranian targets would trigger a much larger response.
Iran said it was also preparing to announce a significantly expanded maritime exclusion zone stretching into the Arabian Gulf.
The shipping crisis is unfolding alongside renewed fighting between Saudi Arabia and Iran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen, adding another threat to vital energy routes across the Middle East.
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