Israeli intelligence assesses that Iran has transferred thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges to tunnels deep inside Pickaxe Mountain, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing Israeli and U.S. officials. According to the report, Israel shared the intelligence findings with the United States, indicating that the centrifuges were moved to the Pickaxe site after the 12-day war in June 2025, during which Israel and the United States struck Iran’s three main nuclear facilities.
According to the report, an Israeli military official familiar with the matter expressed concern that the airstrikes carried out during the recent war did not focus sufficiently on activities related to nuclear-weapons development. As quoted by the Journal, the official said that “there was more work to be done,” including at Pickaxe Mountain.
The report also said that, as Israel’s war aims have increasingly diverged from those of the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has sought to persuade President Donald Trump to resume a broad military campaign against Iran in order to further delay Tehran’s weapons programs and reconstruction efforts. The United States has intensified its attacks over the past 10 days, and Trump has said Washington is prepared to strike Pickaxe Mountain, located about 1.5 kilometers south of the Natanz nuclear facility.
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Trump described Pickaxe as “a possible target for a nice big fat shot” in comments on July 13, marking the first time he explicitly identified the site as a potential target. Known in Iran as Mount Kolang, the underground complex has been monitored by both the United States and Israel for years. Experts estimate that the facility extends roughly 300 to 450 feet beneath solid rock and contains enough space for several nuclear-related installations.
According to the Institute for Science and International Security, construction activity at the site has continued steadily over the past 15 months, including truck traffic, tunnel reinforcements, and the establishment of a security perimeter. David Albright, the institute’s president, said that “it is plausible that Iran moved centrifuges into the tunnels” at Pickaxe.
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U.S. and Israeli officials have long worried that Iran could use the underground tunnels to store or manufacture nuclear equipment or establish a small enrichment facility for producing fissile material. However, the presence of centrifuges at Pickaxe does not necessarily mean Iran is building an enrichment plant there. Following the June 2025 strikes, Tehran may have moved surviving centrifuges to the site in order to reduce the risk of their destruction.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has said that Iran has not granted inspectors access to the site and has provided no information about its activities or plans there. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi stated in March that Iran had announced in 2021 its “intention to have nuclear activity” at the location.