'Clear surge in construction' at suspected Iranian nuclear site: Analysts
What's the story
Satellite imagery analysis has revealed a significant increase in construction activity at Iran's Pickaxe Mountain site. According to CNN, the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank conducted the analysis, which found "a clear surge in construction activity" this year. The site is located near the Natanz nuclear complex, about 225km south of Tehran. The underground facility is "likely" built to be a safe haven for Iran's nuclear program, according to analysts who reviewed six years of satellite images.
Military strategy
US considering ways to strike Pickaxe Mountain
President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to attack the site, and Israeli intelligence has indicated that Iran may be attempting to relocate centrifuges there as part of uranium enrichment efforts.
Last week, Trump again threatened to hit the site, saying, "We may hit Pickaxe very soon."
However, the granite mountain makes it a difficult target even for the Pentagon's "heaviest non-nuclear" bombs, the CSIS team reported.
New technology
US developing bomb to penetrate deeply buried targets
But there are indicators that the US is seeking to find a means of striking those targets, CNN reported.
The US military is developing a "next generation penetrator" bomb to succeed the current Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). A contract for a prototype was awarded in September 2025.
Satellite imagery shows excavation work at a remote site in White Sands, New Mexico, which is likely intended to test weapons on deeply buried targets.
Site assessment
Plans for test were connected to Iran war
This aligns with an emergency $1.2 million contract justification signed by a Pentagon program manager just before the war started.
The plans for the test were related to the Iran war, three sources familiar with the matter told CNN, as well as the necessity to develop a way to target Iran's deepest-buried underground facilities and, most likely, simulate US strikes against specific nuclear facilities.
Future capabilities
US attacked nuclear sites in June 2025
The US had attacked nuclear sites in June 2025 during Operation Midnight Hammer.
Although some key sites connected to Tehran's nuclear program were successfully destroyed by the strikes, a senior US general told lawmakers last year that the deeply buried Isfahan nuclear site only had its entrances buried because the Pentagon believed that its bunker-busting bombs, known as the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, could not destroy it.