Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington D.C., where their discussions primarily revolved around the ongoing tensions with Iran, as well as developments in Lebanon and Gaza. However, the core objective of Netanyahu's visit was to persuade Trump to intensify military actions against Iran. According to Hebrew media reports, Netanyahu presented evidence concerning a site known as "Mountain of the Axe" in Iran. This raises critical questions about what exactly the Iranians are concealing underground, why the facility has not yet been attacked, and whether the U.S. military possesses the capability to penetrate the massive rock layers that protect it.
Intelligence reports indicate that Netanyahu provided Trump with information suggesting that Iran is expanding its nuclear facilities at the Mountain of the Axe site, along with other evidence that Iran is rebuilding its missile and drone programs, which had been significantly damaged by a series of U.S. airstrikes. This presentation aimed to demonstrate that Iran has no intention of abandoning its nuclear ambitions or missile program as part of any ceasefire negotiations with Washington, thereby raising doubts about Iran's sincerity regarding the talks in general.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel supplied the United States with intelligence indicating that Iran had relocated centrifuges to the underground Mountain of the Axe facility last fall, specifically after the 12-day war in June 2025. During the conflict, U.S. and Israeli forces targeted three of Iran's primary nuclear sites in what was dubbed "Midnight Hammer" by the U.S. Previously, Trump noted that Mountain of the Axe had remained untouched during the war due to insufficient evidence that Tehran was using it to advance its nuclear program. However, during a meeting with the Lebanese president, he stated, "The United States will strike the site very soon."
Earlier, on July 13, Trump hinted at the possibility of attacking the complex, stating in an interview with Hugh Hewitt's program, "We will destroy Mountain of the Axe. Tell the Iranians to be ready." Reports have suggested that U.S. forces are prepared to launch a ground operation to seize potentially hundreds of kilograms of enriched uranium believed to be hidden within Iran. Conversely, Iran maintains that the site is solely a factory for producing and assembling advanced centrifuges, not an active enrichment facility. Nonetheless, Iranian authorities have barred International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors from accessing the site.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi has called on Iran to provide answers regarding its activities at the site, but Iran has yet to furnish information that would validate its claims or rule out the presence of nuclear materials within Mountain of the Axe. The term "Mountain of the Axe" translates from the Persian name "Koh Kolang," meaning "the axe." This fortified complex was secretly constructed inside the mountain in 2020, approximately 1.5 kilometers south of the Iranian Natanz nuclear facility, which houses two of Iran's uranium enrichment plants that were bombed by the United States in June 2025. The enigmatic complex is located within a mountain that rises to 1,600 meters, and satellite imagery indicates that it has been excavated to a depth exceeding 100 meters beneath the bedrock, making it deeper and more fortified than the underground Fordow uranium enrichment facility.
According to an analysis conducted by Reuters and the Wall Street Journal, based on satellite imagery and reports from the Institute for Science and International Security in Vienna, the site is a massive engineering project in terms of its scope, featuring two fortified entrance tunnel systems, suggesting it is a multi-level complex situated at depths of between 100 and 145 meters below the mountain's summit. Estimates suggest that the underground hall covers an area exceeding 5,000 square meters, which could easily accommodate an entire military uranium enrichment plant, as well as activities related to the development of actual nuclear weapon components.
Geologically, Mountain of the Axe consists of bedrock primarily made of granite; thus, the tunnels excavated within it, located at depths of 100 to 145 meters, are nearly impervious to aerial bombardment. The depth and rock composition closely resemble the characteristics of the Fordow enrichment facility. However, the internal design and vulnerabilities of this site remain shrouded in mystery, and the significant depth of the tunnels renders them almost immune to direct attacks from conventional weapons.
The site was not destroyed during the 12-day war or in the February conflict, and it was not targeted at that time. According to the Institute for Science and International Security, no evidence of "nuclear activity" has been found at the site, which Trump cited as justification for the lack of attack thus far. The focus of U.S. and Israeli strikes has been on active facilities in Fordow, Isfahan, and Natanz, where Iran stores and produces fissile materials.
However, in the age of advanced reconnaissance satellites, it is nearly impossible to conceal operations involving the extraction of stones and the movement of soil on the scale of hundreds of thousands of tons. Recent satellite images have revealed that Iran resumed construction activities at the site as of March, even partially unearthing the eastern tunnel with dirt to prevent a raid by ground commandos. Specifically following the "Rising Lion" operation, Iranians began relocating centrifuges and other equipment from Natanz to the tunnels of Mountain of the Axe, in addition to equipment they managed to bring from other bombed nuclear sites.
If Netanyahu can convince Trump to strike Mountain of the Axe, it would necessitate an enormous operation, one that could only be executed by the U.S. military, as only the U.S. Air Force possesses the GBU-57 bombs, each weighing about 10 tons, capable of penetrating solid rock to a depth of approximately 60 meters. Furthermore, the Americans alone operate the B-2 stealth bombers, each capable of carrying several of such bombs. Military experts express skepticism regarding the U.S. Air Force’s ability to destroy Mountain of the Axe from the air; unlike the Fordow facility, whose tunnel maps and ventilation openings have been documented for years, and which has endured successful attacks with massive 15-ton bombs capable of breaching fortifications, the internal design and vulnerabilities of Mountain of the Axe remain unclear. The immense depth of the tunnels makes them nearly impervious to direct strikes from conventional weapons.
Consequently, should the U.S. administration decide to attack, it is likely that the strike would focus on "suffocating" the site by destroying the fortified tunnel openings, cutting off supply lines and electrical infrastructure, and damaging cooling systems and engineering teams—an approach that would entomb the Iranian centrifuge deep within the mountain without dismantling the fortress. This attack would require meticulous planning, and its timing would be influenced by several factors, including intelligence on the initiation of activities at the site and the replenishment of the U.S. stockpile of heavy bombs. Furthermore, the attack carries the risk of dispersing a quantity of radioactive materials, rendering a vast area uninhabitable.
Gathering intelligence on this facility is likely a challenging and time-consuming endeavor, as it requires pinpoint accuracy in identifying the locations of the centrifuges and calculating bomb impact sites to a precision of mere meters, if not less, to penetrate the granite and inflict severe damage to production halls and centrifuges, rather than merely causing a tremor in the mountain. Adequate intelligence must also be available regarding the locations of production and operational halls for the centrifuges so that they can be accurately targeted. Additionally, the U.S. defense industry must replenish its stockpiles of highly penetrative GBU-57 bombs—a process that necessitates significant time.
Currently, there is no information indicating that the Iranians have activated the centrifuges stored in the tunnels of Mountain of the Axe, but satellite images show that they are conducting fortification and reinforcement activities around its openings and elsewhere, preparing it for accessibility even in the event of an airstrike. Simultaneously, it would be challenging for ground forces to access the site if the United States decides to launch a ground operation to dismantle the contents of Mountain of the Axe, perhaps to extract any enriched uranium that may be stored there.
As reported by dostor.org.
