Satellite image of Kooh-e Kolang (Pickaxe Mountain) in central Iran [Vantor/Reuters=Yonhap News File Photo]

The mountain in Iran known as "Pickaxe Mountain" (Kooh-e Kolang), which U.S. President Donald Trump threatened on the 21st (local time) to strike "very strongly" in the near future, is suspected by the West and Israel to be a new underground nuclear facility.

This mountain is located approximately 2 kilometers southwest of the Natanz nuclear complex in central Iran.

Locally, it is called "Kooh-e Kolang" (Pickaxe Mountain) due to its shape, and the broader region is also referred to as "Kooh-e Kolang Gaz-e Ra."

Satellite imagery shows two tunnel entrances on both the east and west sides leading below the ridge. According to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a U.S. think tank, the mountain has an elevation of 1,608 meters, with an altitude difference of about 100 meters from the west entrance and about 50 meters between the two entrances.

Based on these topographical data, the U.S., Israel, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) estimate that Iran has constructed a significantly large nuclear facility 80 to 100 meters deep within the granite mountain.

Being deeper than the underground nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordow, which the U.S. reportedly destroyed with bunker-buster bombs last June, it may be impossible to neutralize even with such weaponry.

It is not accurately known whether this underground facility is currently under construction or already in operation.

The purpose of the facility also remains unclear. The prevailing explanation is that construction intensified at Pickaxe Mountain after a centrifuge assembly plant on the surface of the Natanz nuclear complex was heavily damaged by an unexplained fire in July 2020. The theory is that Iranian authorities, believing the fire was an act of sabotage by Israel, sought a safer location.

While Iran claims it is a peaceful facility for centrifuge assembly, the U.S. and Israel suspect its goal is highly enriched uranium production. Director General Rafael Grossi once remarked last year, "When we ask them, 'What is this facility for?', they reply, 'It is none of your business.'"

Opinions vary on how the U.S. could potentially destroy the facility, given its depth and the hardness of the rock, which may be beyond the reach of bunker busters.

Suggestions include finding ventilation shafts to drop bunker busters, as was the case with the attack on the Fordow nuclear facility last year, or disabling the centrifuges by cutting off the underground power supply lines. Scenarios involving ground forces entering through the vulnerable tunnel openings have been discussed, but the high risk of the operation being exposed during the movement and landing of troops deep within central Iran makes failure a distinct possibility.