Iran denies existence of nuclear facility at ‘Pickaxe Mountain’ after threat by Trump

This June 15, 2026, photo from Planet Labs PBC shows Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, upper right, and the construction at Pickaxe Mountain directly to the south of it. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
This June 15, 2026, photo from Planet Labs PBC shows Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, upper right, and the construction at Pickaxe Mountain directly to the south of it. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)

Iran again denies the existence of any secret nuclear complex at so-called “Pickaxe Mountain,” after US President Donald Trump threatened to strike the site in the center of the country.

“Washington’s obsessive focus on Kolang Kouh where no nuclear activity is taking place is nothing more than a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei says on X.

He insists “Iran’s nuclear activities have been fully declared” to the UN’s atomic watchdog.

Trump warned yesterday that the US would hit the site, but has yet to follow through on the threat.

In 2025, US media outlets including The Washington Post and The New York Times reported that Iran had accelerated construction at a secret underground nuclear site at Kolang mountain, which Tehran denied.

The mountain is near Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, which was bombed by the US during a brief war in June of that year.

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