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Why Trump is suddenly threatening Iran’s last untouched nuclear site

Why Trump is suddenly threatening Iran’s last untouched nuclear site

President Donald Trump is threatening to strike Iran’s deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility — a site the United States previously left untouched while bombing the country’s other major nuclear sites, raising new questions about what may have changed. Estimated to lie beneath at least 100 meters of rock near Iran’s damaged Natanz nuclear enrichment complex, Pickaxe was designed to replace an above-ground plant capable of assembling roughly 6,000 advanced centrifuges each year before it was destroyed in 2020. Iran said the replacement would be larger, more modern and built “in the heart of the mountain.” Analysts believe the tunnels could eventually hold a centrifuge assembly line, an enrichment plant or equipment used in certain nuclear weaponization activities. I’VE STUDIED MILITARY STRATEGY. TRUMP NOW FACES IRAN’S OLDEST BATTLEFIELD TRICK Yet the administration has not said whether it has confirmed that centrifuges were moved inside — or why a site left untouched during earlier attacks now warrants a strike. Military experts also disagree over whether airstrikes could destroy Pickaxe’s interior or merely seal its entrances temporarily. The same depth that could protect Iran’s nuclear infrastructure may place Pickaxe’s main chambers beyond the reliable destructive reach of America’s most powerful conventional bunker-busting weapon. Bombing its exposed entrances could deny Iran access without destroying the facility or anything stored inside. Trump said Tuesday that the United States would probably strike the area “pretty soon” and “very heavily.” TRUMP THREATENS ‘MAJOR MILITARY PUNISHMENT’ FOR IRAN OVER FUTURE HOUTHI ATTACKS His warning came after The Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli intelligence believes Iran moved thousands of centrifuges into Pickaxe last fall. Trump said the transfer “may have” occurred but added that the United States did not have it “on record.” “Maybe this one they have right,” Trump said. “But it’s okay. It doesn’t mean anything unless they have the material.” “We follow the material,” he added. TRUMP SEEKS $672M TO STOP IRANIAN NUKES AS NEGOTIATORS WEIGH FATE OF URANIUM STOCKPILE By “the material,” Trump was referring to Iran’s enriched uranium, including uranium gas that centrifuges can further enrich to weapons-grade levels. Before the June 2025 attacks, the International Atomic Energy Agency had verified that Iran possessed 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%, enough, if further enriched, for approximately 10 nuclear weapons under the agency’s standard measurement. Most of the stockpile was believed to have been held at Isfahan, with additional material at Natanz and Fordow. Inspectors have since been unable to verify its amount, condition or present location. The Institute for Science and International Security assesses that the material remains trapped at those three sites and does not believe enriched uranium has entered Pickaxe. The administration has not said whether the United States independently corroborated the reported Israeli assessment, whether centrifuges are being stored or installed inside Pickaxe or whether nuclear material has entered the facility. Storing centrifuges would not make Pickaxe an operational enrichment plant. The machines would have to be installed in connected cascades, linked to electrical, ventilation and piping systems and fed uranium gas. Satellite imagery shows continued construction but no indication that Pickaxe is operational, according to the Washington-based institute. Images from February showed Iran adding concrete, rock and reinforced structures over tunnel portals in an apparent effort to harden them against airstrikes. Analysts also observed smaller closed-roof vehicles near the entrances that could indicate Iran was outfitting the interior. The imagery could not establish what the vehicles carried. Spencer Faragasso, a senior research fellow at the Institute for Science and International Security, said earlier U.S. and Israeli attacks prioritized Iran’s operating enrichment program. Based on what was understood about Pickaxe at the time, he said, there was “nothing of priority” inside that warranted expending valuable deep-penetrating weapons. “The facility is still under construction, and it’s unlikely that a centrifuge plant is operating inside there,” Faragasso told Fox News Digital. But Faragasso said centrifuges could have entered aboard covered trucks without being detected in commercial imagery, making the reported Israeli intelligence plausible but impossible for outside analysts to confirm. The reported transfer could help explain Trump’s recent focus on Pickaxe, he said. The facility is also one of the last nuclear-related sites of its size that has not been struck. Trump did not publicly name Pickaxe during the opening months of Operation Epic Fury. It entered his public rhetoric July 13, when conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt raised the facility during an interview. Trump said American surveillance had detected no activity there but called Pickaxe a possible target for a “nice big fat shot right into the front door.” At the end of the interview, Hewitt urged Trump to “go get Pickaxe Mountain.” “We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain,” Trump replied. “Tell the Iranians to be ready.” The White House could not be reached for comment for this story. The administration has not explained whether the recent threats reflect new intelligence, an effort to deter Iran from activating the facility or a shift from destroying existing enrichment capacity to preventing Iran from rebuilding. Whether the United States could destroy Pickaxe from the air remains disputed. Nicole Grajewski, an assistant professor at Sciences Po and nonresident scholar in the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Nuclear Policy Program, said it would be “very close to impossible” to destroy the facility through an air campaign like the one the United States carried out against Fordow. Pickaxe is deeper and more heavily fortified, she said, and does not have a publicly confirmed structural weakness comparable to those exploited there. Retired Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Spalding, a former B-2 operations commander, said planners would first determine whether the mission required destroying Pickaxe’s interior or merely preventing Iran from using it. “You assess what the goals are, and then you assess the costs associated with making something not fit for use — or destruction,” Spalding said. If destroying the facility proved infeasible, he said, the U.S. could instead deny access and prevent Iran from bringing in the personnel and equipment needed to

‘Shame on you’: Sherrill knew voter-roll bombshell was coming when she called Trump a liar, DOJ official says

‘Shame on you’: Sherrill knew voter-roll bombshell was coming when she called Trump a liar, DOJ official says

The Justice Department‘s top Civil Rights official accused New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill of criticizing President Donald Trump’s election integrity claims even though she already knew her administration was about to disclose a major voter registration problem. In his July 16 address, Trump accused China of acquiring sensitive voter data and said U.S. intelligence agencies hid that revelation from the public while also alleging several Democrat-run states, including New Jersey, have large numbers of noncitizens registered to vote. Department of Homeland Security data released in concert with the speech found more than 35,000 potential noncitizens are on the Garden State’s rolls. “When the president came out with his Primetime speech last Thursday, I believe in the sequencing of events that has been laid out, she already knew that this revelation was forthcoming,” Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said. ‘SHADOW GOVERNMENT’: TRUMP CLAIMS INTEL COMMUNITY BRAGGED ABOUT HIDING CHINESE MEDDLING “She knew it, and she still went online and called the president a liar and said he was exaggerating – Shame on you, governor.” Dhillon said governors willing to cooperate with the DOJ would receive assistance but warned states refusing to do so could face lawsuits. “It’s a bipartisan problem, actually. And I’m really looking forward to helping everyone who will work with us fix this problem. And if they won’t work with, we’ll sue them and we’ll still fix the problem.” Following Trump’s address, Sherrill signed on to a statement with 23 other Democratic governors attempting to throw cold water on the president’s wide-ranging claims, calling him a liar, as Dhillon said. “It’s deeply alarming that President Trump continues to try to undermine free and fair elections. No amount of lies and conspiracy theories can change the fact that our country’s elections have repeatedly been proven to be safe and secure,” read the rebuke, formally led by Kentucky Gov. Andrew Beshear. TONY DOKOUPIL CLASHES WITH MARK WARNER AFTER THE SENATOR RIPPED CBS FOR AIRING TRUMP SPEECH ‘AS NEWS’ Sherrill’s co-signed statement went on to accuse Trump of trying to “intimidate and silence voters” while claiming Democrats are the ones “actually making life better for American families by lowering costs, creating jobs and protecting our freedoms.” “Ours is a winning message, which is why he is trying to undermine democracy.” Dhillon said Sherrill and all other governors should join with DOJ to investigate every substantive claim of election integrity violations, warning it is their own citizens who stand to be hurt. “Every single person who voted illegally canceled out the vote of a New Jersey voter; that is shameful,” she said. “And instead of pointing fingers at the president, which is what Governor Sherrill did… she should be raising her hand to work with the federal government to clean this up ASAP because that’s the vow she took when she ran for office and she got sworn in as the governor of her state is to protect her citizens, and her citizens have a right to vote.” SIGN UP TO GET THE POLITICS NEWSLETTER Dhillon’s letter gave Sherrill five business days, expiring Tuesday, to turn over voter data in the case. Meanwhile, Sherrill indicated to WCBS that she wouldn’t be complying. “It is not a surprise… the Trump administration wants to immediately weaponize this against people as opposed to focusing on making sure we’re running free and fair elections,” the Democrat said. Asked about the accusation Sherrill knew about her own state’s motor-voter scandal when she accused Trump of being a liar, Sherrill spokesman Sean Higgins pointed Fox News Digital to comments she made after touring a grocery store in Essex County to sign unrelated legislation. NEW JERSEY REMOVES 6,600 PEOPLE FROM VOTER ROLLS WHO WERE ELIGIBLE TO CAST A BALLOT FOR 2024 ELECTION In response to a reporter’s question on the scandal, Sherrill said her administration is moving quickly because Jerseyans deserve transparency. “We’re running an independent investigation right now to get to the bottom of exactly how this happened and what’s going on, but it is not a surprise to me that the federal government that the Trump administration wants to immediately weaponize this against people as opposed to focusing on making sure that we’re running free and fair elections,” Sherrill said. Pennsylvania, New York and several other states have also resisted DOJ requests for voter registration data, arguing federal law and state privacy protections limit what information can be shared. The DOJ has also sued officials in some of the states over the election integrity crisis, including New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell.