Experts warn: Secret Iranian nuclear site must be ‘neutralized’

Nuclear watchdogs say Pickaxe Mountain could house uranium enrichment activities.

By World Israel News Staff

A secret Iranian nuclear site buried deep inside a mountain must be “neutralized” before the end of the war, nuclear experts are warning the Trump administration.

Dubbed Pickaxe Mountain, the nuclear development facility is reportedly built about 100 meters beneath a granite mountain in northwest Iran. The site has never been visited by international nuclear inspectors, raising concerns about its purpose and capabilities.

According to experts, the facility’s depth and fortification could make it highly resistant to conventional airstrikes, potentially allowing Iran to continue nuclear developments even amid the ongoing conflict.

“Before the United States and Israel end major combat operations against Iran, they must complete two urgent tasks,” Andrea Stricker, deputy director of the Nonproliferation Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said in a policy briefing, according to a Fox News report.

“First, they must neutralize Pickaxe Mountain. Second, they must recover or eliminate highly enriched uranium stocks to prevent them from falling into the hands of surviving regime elements, other adversarial states or terrorist proxies,” she added.

According to the Institute for Science and International Security, Iran has taken additional steps in recent months to fortify the facility, suggesting it may be intended for uranium enrichment.

“At one of the eastern tunnel entrances, rock and soil can be seen pushed back and leveled on top of the tunnel portal,” the institute said in a report.

“Additionally, over the last month, a concrete-reinforced headworks for the tunnel entrance extension was added. This allows for additional overburden in the form of rock, soil or concrete.”

The concerns echo earlier challenges faced in targeting Iran’s nuclear infrastructure. In June 2025, during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, the United States used bunker-busting bombs to strike the heavily fortified Fordow nuclear facility, which had been considered highly resistant to aerial attack.

However, it remains unclear whether enriched uranium believed to be stored at Fordow was destroyed in the strike or moved to another location beforehand.