“We notice there’s a little activity at \u200cPickaxe. I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard,” Trump said Wednesday at the midterm Republican convention.<\/p>\n
Situated near Iran’s heavily damaged Natanz uranium enrichment facility, Pickaxe Mountain is regarded<\/a> as one of the last remaining vestiges of Tehran’s nuclear program. <\/p>\n The U.S. president has previously threatened to attack the underground tunnel complex, which is known as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La in Farsi, amid concerns that Iran could reconstitute its nuclear program.<\/p>\n An analysis of satellite imagery by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), published Wednesday<\/a>, showed more road activity at Pickaxe Mountain in 2026 “than at any point in the site’s history” and “a clear surge” in construction activity. <\/p>\n The latest data indicates that activity at the site “has shifted from active excavation toward probable internal construction and continued exterior reinforcement,” CSIS said.<\/p>\n The think tank, which said it could not substantiate or refute claims<\/a> that Iran has moved uranium centrifuges into Pickaxe Mountain, said the flurry of activity at a site just two kilometers (1.2 miles) away from an old uranium facility at Natanz was “suspicious.” <\/p>\n A spokesperson at Iran’s Embassy in London was not immediately available to respond to a CNBC request for comment. Iran has repeatedly denied it is seeking nuclear weapons. <\/p>\n U.S. forces struck<\/a> three Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, including Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan, which American officials said at the time had significantly set back the prospect of Tehran building a nuclear weapon. <\/p>\n Trump: Iran war won’t end until after midterm elections <\/p>\n Iran said Wednesday that it had fired ballistic missiles at a U.S. military base in Jordan and attacked 10 ships near the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway<\/a> that typically handles around 20% of the world’s oil traffic.<\/p>\n Earlier in the week, U.S. Central Command forces said<\/a> five Iranian oil tankers had been destroyed in response to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeting a U.S. Navy warship with ballistic missiles twice in two days.<\/p>\n The attacks on tankers near the Strait of Hormuz, alongside an escalation in fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen, have put energy market participants on alert for further supply disruptions.<\/p>\n International benchmark Brent crude<\/a> futures with November delivery traded 0.9% higher at $102.10 per barrel on Thursday morning, reversing earlier losses, with U.S. West Texas Intermediate<\/a> crude futures last seen up 1% at $97.01. <\/p>\n Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Trump said he did not think the U.S.-Iran war would end until after November’s midterm elections. “I think the war will end immediately after the election because they can’t hold out any longer,” Trump said. <\/p>\n The U.S. president later added that some short-term economic pain for American consumers was worth it to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n Oil flows have surprised to the upside in recent weeks, but strategists at ING have warned the market could tighten more sharply if ongoing escalation translates into disrupted oil flows. <\/p>\n![\"Oil](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/108360229-17889388121788938810-48265944411-1080pnbcnews.jpg\")
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