Israeli and U.S. officials reported that Iran moved thousands of enrichment centrifuges to the deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain site near Natanz. The report follows an earlier Israeli intelligence assessment of the transfer, as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
U.S. and Israeli officials have confirmed that Iran transferred thousands of enrichment centrifuges to the deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain site near Natanz, according to a report this morning (Tuesday, 08:25 Jerusalem). The confirmation corroborates earlier intelligence assessments, though the centrifuges are not yet reported to be operational.
The thread began at 04:51 Jerusalem, when ynet and the Wall Street Journal first reported Israeli intelligence assessments that Iran had moved thousands of centrifuges to the underground facility after the 12-day war in June. At 07:24 Jerusalem, The Zioneer published an analysis assessing the site as virtually immune to conventional air strikes, noting that only a tactical nuclear weapon or ground operation could destroy it entirely. At 08:04 Jerusalem, the Wall Street Journal reported that Israeli intelligence assessed the transfer occurred last autumn, after Operation Rising Lion, and that President Trump threatened to strike the site. The new confirmation from officials of both nations now elevates the reporting from an assessment to an on-record acknowledgment.
Background reporting by The Zioneer contextualizes the development: on July 11, satellite imagery obtained by CNN showed reconstruction at the Taleghan 2 facility in the Parchin military complex and tunnel activity at Pickaxe Mountain, potentially breaching a status-quo memorandum with the United States. On July 14, The Zioneer published an analysis noting the site is deeper than the Fordow plant and that the U.S. reportedly plans a phased strike on access routes. On July 18, Axios reported that the U.S. is sending dozens of additional refueling aircraft to Israel as President Trump considers expanding operations against Iran's nuclear sites.
What remains open: the exact number of centrifuges transferred has not been specified, and the centrifuges have not been reported as operational. The timeline for potential activation at the fortified site remains unclear, as does the status of Iran's ability to extract near-weapons-grade enriched uranium from the damaged Isfahan and Fordow sites, which Israeli intelligence assesses as still buried in rubble and monitored.
9 developments
- StrongWSJ: Israel shared intelligence on Iran's Mount Machush centrifuge move to urge US strike
- DevelopingThe Zioneer assesses: Iran's Mount Pikaks site immune to conventional strike, centrifuge transfer deepens nuclear threat
- StrongIran collapses tunnels, lays mines to shield near-weapons-grade uranium stockpile, CNN reports
- StrongIran reportedly building underground nuclear facility in violation of US MOU, Israeli security source says
Source and signal
- Internal intake