A mountain the war has not yet cracked
As the United States and Iran traded blows over the Strait of Hormuz in July, President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened an under-construction Iranian nuclear site buried under a mountain south of Natanz, the Associated Press reported via PBS NewsHour on July 22.
The site is known as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, or Pickaxe Mountain. Natanz itself was bombed by the United States during Operation Midnight Hammer in the 2025 Iran-Israel war. Pickaxe Mountain stayed untouched while digging continued.
What is there, and how deep?
It remains unclear what has been placed at Pickaxe Mountain. The UN nuclear watchdog has never gained access. Experts say the scale of construction suggests Iran could use the underground facility to enrich uranium and build centrifuges.
Depth estimates run from about 80 meters to 100 meters, with some analysts saying it could be deeper. The US GBU-57 bomb can plow through at least 60 meters of earth before detonating, according to American military figures cited in the AP report. Even sequential bunker-busters may not guarantee destruction of a facility that deep.
Trump, speaking with journalists in the Oval Office, acknowledged Iran might have moved centrifuges there at a depth that would challenge America’s most powerful bombs. “We’ll be hitting that area … probably pretty soon. And there’s not a thing they can do about it,” he said.
Nuclear file vs Hormuz file
Trump also tried to re-center the story on Iran’s highly enriched uranium stockpile, saying the US “follow[s] the material.” Iran had enriched uranium up to nearly weapons-grade levels of 60% before the 2025 strikes. Enrichment was not known to have restarted, and the stockpile was still believed to be at bombed enrichment sites.
That dual track matters for August. By August 9, the Wall Street Journal was reporting Trump might end the war without a nuclear deal if Hormuz reopened. Pickaxe Mountain shows why nuclear hardliners rejected that trade.
Sources
- Associated Press / Jon Gambrell via PBS NewsHour, July 22, 2026: site location; depth estimates; GBU-57 figures; Trump quotes; IAEA access gap; Natanz context
