Is Pickaxe Mountain a functioning site?
Trump said earlier this month that the U.S. is watching Pickaxe Mountain “closely” and doesn’t see any activity there.
ISIS’ assessment, based on satellite imagery, is that the facility is not yet operational, but construction continues.
According to the think tank, it “remains unclear when Pickaxe Mountain could be operational… It is also unclear if Iran still plans on installing a large-scale assembly facility, given the destruction of Iran’s centrifuge program, including Iran’s ability to make centrifuge components needed for an assembly plant.”
Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, has said there is no nuclear action at the site, insisting any of Iran’s nuclear activities have “been fully declared to the IAEA, in accordance with its safeguards obligations.”
“Washington’s obsessive focus on Kolang Kouh, where no nuclear activity is taking place, is nothing more than a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage,” he said on July 22.
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