As tensions between the US and Iran continue to simmer, it is now being alleged that there has been an increase in construction at Pickaxe mountain, a nuclear site, in Iran's Isfahan province.
New satellite imagery allegedly shows heightened construction activity in 2026 on Pickaxe. Analysis can neither confirm nor deny reports that Iran moved centrifuges into the site, but the nature of activity suggests the facility is not yet capable of enriching uranium, Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has said.
What the satellite imagery shows
“Multisource imagery analysis of Pickaxe Mountain and the Natanz Nuclear Facility from 2020 to the present reveals a clear three-phase activity signature across the five key points of interest and the roads connecting them, indicating a site that has shifted from active excavation toward probable internal construction and continued exterior reinforcement,” the think tank noted in its report, adding that the ‘images reveal more road activity at Pickaxe Mountain in 2026 than at any point in the site’s history.’
“There is a clear surge in construction activity in 2026 that corresponds to the raising and hardening of the portal accesses, paving of the internal road network, reinforcement around access areas, and the flattening and removal of excavation spoil,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}“There is a clear surge in construction activity in 2026 that corresponds to the raising and hardening of the portal accesses, paving of the internal road network, reinforcement around access areas, and the flattening and removal of excavation spoil,” it said.
{{/usCountry}}US, Iran spar over Pickaxe
Meanwhile, Iran has accused the US and Israel of cloaking military strikes against its nuclear facilities beneath the legal authority wielded by inspectors at the United Nations nuclear watchdog.
“The aggressions of the Israeli regime and America against Iran just a few hours after its adoption, are solid proofs of the sponsors’ hidden agenda,” Iran’s IAEA envoy wrote in the 11-page document, which urged diplomats to “condemn the unlawful attacks", Bloomberg reported.
Amid the developments and increased skirmishes, the US earlier tried increasing diplomatic pressure on Iran by proposing that Tehran be referred to the United Nations Security Council over its stonewalling of nuclear inspectors, who have been unable to verify the location of the country’s stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium.
The US resolution demands that Iran “urgently remedy its non-compliance” and allow checks to ensure “the non-diversion of nuclear material,” according to a copy of the two-page document cited by Bloomberg News.
After reports of the US's persuasion, the IAEA's board on Wednesday reported Iran to the UNSC for the first time in 20 years, according to The Associated Press.
The UN atomic watchdog's board said that Tehran was reported for its failure to cooperate in a long-running probe into uranium traces detected by inspectors at various undeclared sites in the Islamic Republic.
Twenty-three of the 35 member countries on the IAEA board of governors voted for the resolution at their headquarters in Vienna.
While China, Russia and Niger opposed it, eight countries abstained, and one didn't vote as it was in arrears, AP reported, citing diplomats who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
However, Iran has said that it is not pursuing nuclear weapons, and its program is entirely peaceful.
Trump's Pickaxe warning
Last week, US President Donald Trump said the US could "hit" Iran's heavily fortified underground nuclear site known as Pickaxe Mountain "very soon", days after Washington targeted Iranian military targets, as he defended the months-long US military campaign against the Islamic Republic, saying its primary objective was to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
"We're in five months now. And you know what we did in five months? They're not going to have a nuclear weapon; that's what we did," Trump was quoted as saying.
"Iran will not have a nuclear weapon because if they did, you probably wouldn't be standing here very long," he added.
Trump then warned that Pickaxe Mountain could be targeted if the US detects activity there.
"We may hit Pickaxe very soon because if there was anything going on with Pickaxe," Trump said, adding that US intelligence was closely monitoring activity at the site.
"We know everybody that's moving at Pickaxe; we know everybody that's moving everywhere all over Iran. And if anything goes bad, we hit them; we hit them hard," Trump said.