Beneath the rocky peaks of a mountain called Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā, which is better known as Pickaxe Mountain, something is happening, and nobody outside Iran knows exactly what, as per a report.A Mysterious Site and a Blunt ResponseWhen Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, asked Tehran for answers about the growing underground complex at Pickaxe, he didn’t get a long explanation, instead, he just got five words reply, “It’s none of your business,” as reported by The Telegraph.US Strikes: A Partial Blow to Iran?Now, after the US’ airstrike on Iran’s nuclear sites, that vague response seems even more concerning and raises questions about whether the US was actually able to destroy the country’s nuclear program.Just a few days back, American B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s key nuclear facilities at Iran’s Fordow and Natanz nuclear sites, according to The Telegraph report. The bombs they dropped were one of the most powerful in the US arsenal—30,000lb bunker-busters designed to destroy deeply buried sites, as per the report.US president Donald Trump, who ordered the strikes, claimed they had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear programme, but officials have later said that the strike failed to collapse Iran’s underground buildings and Iran still is in control of most of its nuclear material, so Iran could still make a bomb within six months, as reported by The Telegrpah.Live EventsShortly before the attack, 16 lorries were seen lined up outside Fordow, and according to experts, Iran may have moved much of its enriched uranium out of the facility before the bombs fell on the site, as per the report.ALSO READ: He leaked B-2 bomber secrets to a US ally and an arch enemy – where Noshir Gowadia is now will shock youA Shadow Programme Iran Won’t Talk AboutSima Shine, who has worked within the Israeli military establishment for 30 years, pointed out that Tehran had hidden sites which are housing “hundreds if not thousands” of advanced centrifuges capable of producing weapons-grade uranium needed for a nuclear bomb, according to The Telegraph report.Now there are speculations that, “Pickaxe mountain may be the perfect hiding place,” because “The sprawling site at Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā is 90 miles south of Fordow, and only minutes away from the Natanz nuclear facility in central Isfahan province,” as reported by The Telegraph in its article.According to the report, the Pickaxe mountain installation, which is still under construction, has been reinforced and quietly expanded in the past four years.Grossi had shared in April that, “Since it is obvious it is in a place where numerous and important activities related to the programme are taking place, we’re asking them, ‘What is this for?’ And they are telling us, ‘It’s none of your business,’” and he said it “cannot be excluded” that the tunnels would store undeclared material, as reported by The Telegraph.ALSO READ: Lake Tahoe horror: DoorDash exec Josh Pickles among 8 dead in California’s worst boating tragedy since 2019What Makes Pickaxe Mountain So Hard to HitAccording to the report, experts have highlighted that the size of the project could mean that Iran might use the facility not just to build centrifuges but also to enrich uranium. The Telegraph report explained that, “These centrifuges, set up in large groups, spin uranium gas to increase its concentration.”The greater height of Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā, which stands at 1,608 metres above sea level, provides enhanced protection and potentially larger underground chambers for nuclear operations because the deeper construction reduces the effectiveness of bunker-buster bombs designed to penetrate underground facilities, reported The Telegraph.Reuel Marc Gerecht, resident scholar at the Foundation for Defence of Democracies, told The Telegraph, “The Kolang Gaz Lā or ‘Pickaxe’ mountain underground complex is intended to give the clerical regime a nuclear weapons site that even the US Air Force would have difficulty destroying with its largest conventional bombs,” as quoted in the report.While, Ali Shamkhani, who is an adviser to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, told The Telegraph that, “Even assuming the complete destruction of the sites, the game is not over, because enriched materials, indigenous knowledge and political will remain intact,” as quoted in the report.ALSO READ: Iran-Israel war: 700 Iranians may face imminent execution within days for this alleged grave mistakeFAQs What is Pickaxe Mountain and why is it in the news?Pickaxe Mountain is another name for Kūh-e Kolang Gaz Lā, a site in central Iran that may be housing secret parts of Iran’s nuclear programme. It’s in the spotlight after US airstrikes may have missed it. Is Iran hiding nuclear materials at Pickaxe?That’s what many experts fear. Some believe uranium and centrifuges were moved there before the US attack.(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)
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(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onPickaxe MountainIran nuclear programenriched uraniumUS airstrikes IranInternational Atomic Energy Agencynuclear weapons siteFordow nuclear facilityIran Nuclear newsUS Iran attack(Catch all the US News, UK News, Canada News, International Breaking News Events, and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily International News Updates….moreless
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