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Trump targets Pickaxe Mountain
President Donald Trump said Washington is “going to take out Pickaxe Mountain” in an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, warning Iranian leaders to “be ready.”
The threatened site, Pickaxe Mountain, is described as a deeply fortified underground nuclear complex in Iran located within the Zagros mountain range near Natanz, and is believed to house critical nuclear capabilities including potentially covert uranium enrichment facilities.
The Hill reported Pickaxe Mountain is near the damaged Natanz nuclear facility in the Zagros Mountains and is believed to include two deep tunnel complexes beneath some 2,000 feet of granite designed to withstand US bunker-buster bombs.
The Newser account said Trump told Hewitt the US is closely monitoring the site, with “no activity” apparent, but that Washington would “probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon.”
Blockade and strikes around Hormuz
Trump also said the US was restoring a blockade of Iranian shipping in the Persian Gulf and pledged to keep the Strait of Hormuz open “for a fee” as missile and drone exchanges continue.
The Hill said Trump’s threat came as American forces launched a new round of strikes against Iran at 4:45 p.m. EDT on Monday and hours after the president declared the US Navy would reinstate the naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.
Ynetnews reported that shortly afterward U.S. Central Command announced it had begun strikes in Iran for the third consecutive night, while Iranian state television reported explosions in the Bandar Abbas area and near Kish Island.
In the same Ynetnews account, U.S. Central Command said the strikes “will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.”
What’s at stake next
Al-Monitor said satellite imagery has detected recent construction at Pickaxe Mountain, and it noted that international inspectors haven’t been permitted to visit the site, fueling concerns it could be used for other covert purposes such as uranium enrichment.
Al-Monitor reported that the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security said on July 2 that vehicle activity observed in satellite images from late June indicates construction inside the Pickaxe Mountain tunnel complex and the hardening of its entrance is ongoing.
India Today framed the potential consequences of a strike by saying a strike involving multiple deep-penetration bombs would not vaporise the mountain but would fracture rock layers, destabilise slopes and create extensive underground collapse zones.
India Today also said the immediate environmental concern would be an enormous cloud of dust produced by collapsing rock and concrete, and it warned that fine particles of silica, pulverised cement and heavy metals could be carried by winds across nearby communities.
