Iran caught building underground nuclear facility while negotiating with US

The project could provide Tehran with a fallback option should diplomatic efforts collapse.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Continued activity at Iran’s underground Pickaxe Mountain complex is fueling new concerns over Tehran’s compliance with its nuclear agreement with the United States, with a Washington-based nuclear watchdog citing fresh satellite imagery and the continued absence of international inspections at the site.

The Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has never been permitted to inspect the facility, which is buried deep within Iran’s Zagros Mountains.

The institute released its assessment as the Trump administration moves to implement the memorandum of understanding reached with Iran following Operation Epic Fury, the joint US-Israeli military campaign launched on Feb. 28 against Iran’s nuclear and missile infrastructure.

According to ISIS, imagery captured in late June indicates that work at the underground installation has not stopped.

The organization said the photographs show vehicles entering the western tunnel portals and additional fortification work at the tunnel entrances, which it said points to continued construction inside the mountain.

The institute said such activity appears incompatible with the memorandum of understanding, arguing that Iran is expected to preserve existing conditions at nuclear-related sites until inspection and verification measures are completed.

Spencer Faragasso, an ISIS senior fellow focused on Iran’s nuclear program, said the project could provide Tehran with a fallback option should diplomatic efforts collapse.

“The ongoing work at Pickaxe Mountain is deeply concerning. This work has continued steadily since at least 2020,” Faragasso wrote on X. “In my view, this is a hedge by Iran in case negotiations fail—they will then have a nuclear facility in a late stage of construction. We assessed that Pickaxe is likely large enough to hold an enrichment plant.”

Faragasso argued that Tehran could demonstrate its commitment to negotiations by freezing activity at the site and opening it to international inspectors.

“If Iran is serious about negotiating, it should halt construction at Pickaxe Mountain as a token of good faith. But what can be expected from a regime as brutal and conniving as Iran’s?” he wrote.

ISIS said the continued denial of IAEA access, combined with ongoing construction at the heavily fortified underground complex, leaves key questions unanswered about the site’s intended purpose.