Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain: A buried facility near Natanz and the nuclear question

Pickaxe Mountain is a fortified underground complex near Natanz in central Iran, believed to house a plant to build centrifuges for uranium enrichment and has been under construction since 2020, though it is not yet operational. Iran has not granted IAEA access, while the U.S. has floated military options; experts say the site's deep burial would complicate air strikes and might require ground forces, keeping it at the center of ongoing security concerns about Iran’s nuclear program.