A senior Israeli delegation visited Washington last week and urged US officials to address the Mount Pikaks nuclear facility, arguing it cannot be excluded from any future deal with Iran, Channel 14 reported Tuesday. Shortly after the meetings, President Donald Trump publicly mentioned the site for the first time and threatened possible US military action. Israeli officials assess that the delegation helped prompt the shift in US messaging.
Channel 14 reported Tuesday that a senior Israeli delegation visited Washington last week and urged US officials to address the deep underground nuclear facility at Mount Pikaks, arguing that the site cannot be excluded from any future arrangement with Tehran. Shortly after the meetings, President Donald Trump for the first time publicly named the site and threatened possible US military action. Israeli officials assess that the delegation helped drive the shift in US messaging, bringing the issue into the White House's public discourse.
The report follows a sequence of developments Monday evening (Jul 13, 23:28 Jerusalem). Initially, Trump threatened to strike the Karkas nuclear facility, later identified as Mount Pikaks. The Zioneer then reported that the site is located hundreds of meters underground and is immune to conventional bunker busters, with a tactical nuclear weapon or a ground operation considered the only viable destruction options. By Monday night, Channel 14 reported that a secret Washington meeting had taken place, and that Trump had already adopted a specific Israeli demand. The Zioneer's own analysis assessed that the US is unlikely to use nuclear means.
The Zioneer has previously reported on the Mount Pikaks facility, including satellite imagery from July 5 showing new construction, and a July 4 announcement of a Netanyahu-Trump meeting amid nuclear tensions. The site is considered Iran's most fortified nuclear facility, as Trump himself noted.
The report is based on a single source, Channel 14, and the identities of the delegation members have not been disclosed. The development underscores the close coordination between Jerusalem and Washington on the Iran nuclear file, but the exact impact of the delegation's visit on Trump's public threat remains unverified.
6 developments
- DevelopingTrump escalates Mount Makosh threat: 'We will reach the site, tell Iran to prepare'
- DevelopingZioneer analysis: Trump threatens Mount Pikaks; only tactical nuke or ground op can destroy site
- DevelopingTrump warns Israel against further retaliation, says Iran signaled willingness to pause attacks if Israel reciprocates
- DevelopingJerusalem officials fear Trump may agree to Iranian nuclear concessions
Source and signal
- Internal intake