Iran Regime Hiding Nukes in Mountain Trump Can’t Hit Without Going Nuclear

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Iran is betting its nuclear program on a mountain fortress so deep underground that even America’s most powerful conventional bombs can’t reach it — and President Trump knows it.

Trump threatened Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain facility during the GOP midterm convention Wednesday, warning the regime not to “get cute” with renewed nuclear activity at the site.

“We noticed there’s a little activity at Pickaxe [Mountain]. I would advise Iran not to get cute,” Trump said during the convention. “Because we will have to hit them very hard, we have no choice.”

But Pickaxe Mountain presents a massive tactical problem: the underground complex sits at least 328 feet beneath solid granite — far deeper than America’s most powerful bunker-buster can penetrate.

The GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator, the U.S. military’s heaviest conventional bunker-buster, can reach targets only 200 feet underground before detonating, according to the U.S. Air Force.

Pickaxe Mountain’s tunnels are buried at least 100 meters — roughly 328 feet — beneath the mountain, according to the Institute for Science and International Security.

“My general sense is that conventional ordnance would be unlikely to decisively destroy such a deeply buried facility,” Philipp C. Bleek, fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Gary Samore, a politics professor at Brandeis University, was blunter: “I believe that an earth-penetrating nuclear warhead could destroy the underground site at Pickaxe Mountain, but … it is extremely unlikely that Trump will order a nuclear strike on Iran.”

“My impression is that the MOP is unlikely to penetrate into the tunnels under Pickaxe Mountain, unless there are vulnerable entry points like ventilation shafts.”

Samore pointed out that the U.S. military successfully used the MOP against Iran’s Fordow facility in June 2025 by targeting ventilation shafts — the same strategy that could seal Pickaxe Mountain’s entrances and exits without destroying the tunnels themselves.

Trump previously threatened the facility during a July 28 Fox News interview, saying “we’ll have to take out Pickaxe if we don’t make a deal.”

“I know exactly what’s going on at Pickaxe, it’s not a big problem,” Trump said. “We took out their nuclear sites, and we’ll have to take out Pickaxe if we don’t make a deal. If we don’t make a deal, we’ll take it out very easily.”

The renewed focus on Pickaxe Mountain marks a notable shift from the administration’s assessment following the June 2025 strikes on Iran. The White House declared at the time that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “obliterated,” while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the bombing campaign had “obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons.”

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in March that Operation Midnight Hammer had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and that Tehran had made no effort to rebuild since the strikes.

Iran is now proving that assessment premature.

Even if the U.S. military sealed Pickaxe Mountain completely, the Iranian regime retains the knowledge to rebuild its nuclear program elsewhere — potentially in an even deeper, better-concealed facility.

“The question is what next? Iran would still retain the knowledge of how to build nuclear weapons and could, over time, build a better-protected facility,” John Erath, senior policy director at the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, told the DCNF.

Bleek suggested the U.S. could adopt Israel’s strategy of “mowing the lawn” — continuously monitoring the facility and bombing any attempt to repair entrances or ventilation shafts whenever Iran tries to rebuild access.

Trump is already watching. According to a Truth Social post from Aug. 25, Space Force is monitoring “every square inch” of Pickaxe Mountain and the Strait of Hormuz.

“Through Space Force, we are watching every square inch of the Strait, as we are, also, with Pickaxe Mountain and the already destroyed three other Nuclear sites,” Trump wrote.

The war with Iran remains ongoing more than six months after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Feb. 28, with Washington maintaining a naval blockade and intermittent military operations as Tehran continues retaliatory strikes on regional shipping and U.S.-aligned interests.

Trump said Wednesday that he expected the war to end “immediately after the election,” arguing Tehran “cannot hold out any longer.”

Despite the tactical challenge Pickaxe Mountain presents, Trump has explicitly ruled out using nuclear weapons in Iran.

“There’s no reason for it,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Aug. 31. “What a stupid question that is, actually. Here they are, they’re totally defeated militarily. So now I defeat them, and now I should use a nuclear weapon on top of them? What a stupid question.”

Trump cut the press conference short after the question. Staffers immediately ushered the media out of the Oval Office.

The Department of War declined to discuss future operations but confirmed all options remain on the table. “The U.S. military continues to provide the President options, and all options remain on the table,” a DOW official told the DCNF.

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