Fresh satellite imagery is drawing new attention to Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried site near the Natanz nuclear complex that President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to strike, as reported by Fox News.

The latest activity includes added protection around tunnel entrances as Tehran continues work at sensitive facilities.

The Institute for Science and International Security said imagery from Sept. 11 shows earthen roadblocks still blocking roads that lead to the mountain’s western tunnel portals.

The continued restrictions support the institute’s assessment that the complex is not being used for normal operations.

At the same time, the institute assessed that valuable equipment or materials remain inside. Additional soil has been placed over one western tunnel portal and a nearby group of entrances that were first built in 2007.

According to the institute, the new soil increases the amount of earth protecting the entrances and helps harden them against aerial bombardment.

The moves are the latest signs that Tehran is not exactly leaving its sensitive underground infrastructure exposed.

Trump addressed the activity last week while speaking with reporters. “We notice there’s a little activity at Pickaxe,” Trump said.

“I would advise Iran not to get cute because we will have to hit them very hard.”

The president also discussed Pickaxe Mountain during a July 28 “Fox & Friends” interview highlighted by the White House.

Trump said the United States was watching the site closely and knew “exactly what’s going on,” adding that Washington could “take out Pickaxe” if diplomacy failed.

Pickaxe Mountain is roughly two kilometers from Natanz and contains several tunnel entrances leading into a deeply buried underground complex.

Construction started in 2020 after sabotage damaged an advanced centrifuge assembly facility at Natanz.

Iranian officials later said a replacement underground facility was being built for advanced centrifuge production.

Analysts estimate that parts of the complex could be buried at least 100 meters beneath the mountain, although Iran has said there is no nuclear activity there.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital that some analysts believe the chance for a straightforward strike may already have passed.

The site’s depth presents an obvious military challenge.

“The window to strike Pickaxe Mountain, according to some, has already expired because the regime has dug an underground nuclear facility several times deeper than Fordow,” Ben Taleblu said. Even so, he argued that Washington retains options if destroying the underground complex proves difficult.

“Washington can do what it’s traditionally been able to do with sites that are underground, hardened and fortified, and that’s to bury their entrances and raise the political cost to the Islamic Republic of being able to dig out,” he said.

“While there may not be the perfect munition just yet, Uncle Sam always has a bigger bomb,” Ben Taleblu added. “And in the meantime, what they can do is show that they mean business by burying the entrances.”

The Pickaxe Mountain findings arrived alongside signs of reconstruction at Taleghan 2, another sensitive Iranian facility at the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran.

The institute said Iran was “rapidly moving forward” with the work.

Vantor Technologies imagery from Sept. 13 showed that Iran had erected a tarp over the destroyed hardened facility, concealing work beneath it from satellite or aerial observation.

Dump trucks, bulldozers, concrete equipment, and cranes were also active around the location.

The institute said Iran constructed new concrete reinforcement that could provide additional protection from aerial attack.

Taleghan 2 was struck by Israel in October 2024 and again in March 2026 after Iran rebuilt and hardened the facility.

The developments coincided with another clash over Iran at the United Nations.

Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution authored by the U.S. that would have extended the mandate of the Panel of Experts supporting the 1737 Iran Sanctions Committee until September 2027.

The resolution received 11 votes in favor, while Pakistan and Somalia abstained.

The panel investigates alleged sanctions violations and reports on implementation, but Russia and China reject the legal and procedural validity of restoring sanctions through the snapback mechanism.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz said Washington considers the sanctions legally restored and expects participating countries to enforce them.

He also said the Iranian regime cannot have a nuclear weapon, while noting that sanctioned businesses and individuals may attempt to evade restrictions by changing names and corporate structures.

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