WSJ: Iran transferred key nuclear centrifuges to secret mountain facility

Israeli intelligence believes Iran relocated thousands of uranium-enrichment centrifuges last autumn to tunnels inside a new underground facility beneath Mount Pickaxe, according to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), citing Israeli and US officials.

The assessment has heightened concerns in Israel and the United States that Tehran could resume its nuclear programme at the new site.

Sources told the newspaper that Israel shared the intelligence with Washington, saying the centrifuges had been transferred to the Mount Pickaxe facility after the 12-day war in June 2025, when US and Israeli forces struck Iran’s three main nuclear sites in Natanz, Fordow and Isfahan. US President Donald Trump later threatened to target Mount Pickaxe amid a renewed escalation in US-Iran tensions.

Mount Pickaxe is located in central Iran, about 1.5 kilometres from the Natanz uranium-enrichment plant, which suffered extensive damage during the US-Israeli strikes in 2025. The underground complex beneath the mountain, whose construction began in 2020, was not affected by the attacks.

The facility, also known as Mount Kolang, is buried between 100 and 150 metres beneath solid rock, making it deep enough to withstand air strikes using conventional bunker-buster munitions.

Earlier this month, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), citing newly analysed satellite imagery, identified ongoing construction activity around the complex.

According to experts cited in the report, Iran appears to be developing a backup underground uranium-enrichment facility.

By Jeyhun Aghazada