Iran Is Believed To Have Nuclear Facilities Deep Inside a Mountain. Analysts Say Construction Is Increasing There.

A suspected Iranian nuclear facility buried deep inside a mountain is seeing a “clear surge in construction activity” this year, experts are saying.

The site in question is known as Pickaxe mountain and is located near the Natanz nuclear complex, which was bombed by the U.S. last year during Iran’s 12-day war with Israel. It hosts two tunnel complexes experts believe can’t be reached by the U.S.’s most powerful bunker buster bombs.

A report from July noted that Israeli intelligence believes Iran has moved thousands of nuclear centrifuges beneath the mountain during the current war.

The Wall Street Journal detailed back then that officials told U.S. counterpart their assessment shows the move took place in the past fall after the war.

Pickaxe mountain was not targeted last year and has not been hit in this year’s war either, according to The Times Of Israel.

acIAEA Director General Rafael Grossi recalled earlier this year that Iran said in 2021 that it intended to “have nuclear activity” in the mountain.

In this context, satellite imagery analyzed by experts from the Center for Strategic and International Studies shared with CNN shows construction has increased and is “likely” aimed at being a safe haven for the country’s nuclear program.

The report details a “clear three-phase activity signature across the five key points of interest and the roads connecting them, indicating a site that has shifted from active excavation toward probable internal construction and continued exterior reinforcement.”

The report goes on to detail that there is also a “hardening of the portal accesses, paving of the internal road network, reinforcement around access areas, and the flattening and removal of excavation spoil.”

CSIS analysts note that the assessment can’t confirm or refute Israeli intelligence claims that Iran moved the centrifuges inside the facility. However, they believe that current evidence “suggest the underground facility is not yet capable of enrichment work, if that is the intended purpose.”

“Further analysis of daily activity would be needed to establish the site’s pattern of life beyond its current construction footprint,” the document adds.

Despite the fact that the facility is deeply buried inside the mountain, President Donald Trump threatened to “take out” Pickaxe mountain earlier this year.