President Donald Trump has warned that US forces may soon strike Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified underground complex near Iran’s Natanz uranium enrichment facility. In an interview on The Hugh Hewitt Show, Trump said the site is “a possible target for a nice, big, fat shot” and that the US is “watching it closely.” The threat, issued on Monday, came as American forces launched a third consecutive night of strikes against Iran and the US Navy reinstated a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. A senior Iranian security source told CNN that any attack would trigger a “devastating response,” adding that “the price will be paid by American soldiers and their regional partners.”

Pickaxe Mountain, known in Farsi as Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, lies roughly 1.5 kilometres south of the Natanz complex in Isfahan province. Western intelligence agencies assess that the site houses two deeply buried tunnel complexes, excavated since 2020, which may be intended for clandestine uranium enrichment or the storage of highly enriched material. According to the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, the tunnels are bored into solid granite at depths that likely exceed the penetration capability of the US military’s most powerful bunker-buster bombs. Tehran has informed the International Atomic Energy Agency that the facility is designed solely for centrifuge assembly, but it has never granted inspectors access, a stance that analysts in European capitals say reinforces suspicions of an undeclared nuclear purpose.

The latest US strikes, described by Central Command as aimed at degrading Iranian forces’ ability to target commercial shipping, follow Iran’s weekend declaration that it had “closed” the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian security source stated that Tehran “will not retreat from defending the rights of the Iranian people” and that whether Trump proceeds with strikes on Pickaxe Mountain “will make no difference to Iran’s implementation of its arrangements in the Strait of Hormuz.” Trump, speaking from the Oval Office, maintained that a peace agreement remains possible, claiming that a deal had been close two days earlier but that Iran had asked for more time to negotiate.

Satellite imagery analysed in February 2026 shows ongoing construction at the site, with trucks and concrete deliveries observed at tunnel entrances, indicating efforts to harden the complex against air attack. The activity, according to the Institute for Science and International Security, violates a June 2025 memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran that required Iran to maintain the status quo of its nuclear programme. The IAEA has not been permitted to verify the nature of the work, and the dossier remains a central point of friction as military and diplomatic tracks unfold simultaneously.