U.S. President Donald Trump continued to issue aggressive warnings against Iran over the weekend, declaring that Washington will soon launch a military strike against the heavily fortified subterranean complex known as “Pickaxe Mountain” (Kuh-e Kolang).
Trump emphasized that the United States is closely monitoring every operational movement across Iranian territory and will never permit the Islamic Republic to achieve nuclear weapons breakout capability.
The President downplayed the scope of the broader campaign, stating that he does not view the conflict as a full-scale “war,” but rather as a low-cost, targeted “military skirmish.” He contrasted the current low casualty figures—citing 18 casualties—with the staggering human toll of past historical wars such as Vietnam.
The subterranean fortress, situated adjacent to Iran’s flagship Natanz uranium enrichment complex, was excavated into granite rock as an air-strike-proof alternative for centrifuge manufacturing and assembly after its original surface-level hall was destroyed in a mysterious 2020 explosion.
According to American media reports, the mountain facility remains under round-the-clock, granular intelligence surveillance by Israeli and U.S. defense agencies.
Trump’s latest threats come amid sustained military escalation across the theater, which previously saw American officials weigh operations targeting Kharg Island and the physical annexation of the Strait of Hormuz corridor. These warnings were backed by active kinetic operations over the weekend, as the U.S. military targeted and struck Iranian oil tankers maneuvering through the Strait of Hormuz.