Iran Centrifuges: Underground Transfer at Natanz Revealed

Israeli intelligence assesses that Iran transferred thousands of centrifuges used for uranium enrichment into a deeply buried facility inside Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, known as Pickaxe Mountain, during the autumn following last year's twelve day war. The findings were shared with the United States and raise fresh concern that Tehran is quietly advancing its nuclear program despite the strikes it absorbed during the conflict.

The assessment, first reported by The Wall Street Journal citing Israeli and American officials, states that the transfer took place after American and Israeli strikes destroyed or severely damaged Iran's three main nuclear sites during the war. Israel passed the intelligence to Washington and noted that the centrifuges were moved into the mountain facility following the fighting.

An Israeli military official involved in the strike planning told the Journal that the air campaign during the last war did not sufficiently target nuclear weapons related infrastructure. The official specifically named Pickaxe Mountain as a site that has not yet been properly dealt with, saying there is still more work to do.

Pickaxe Mountain sits south of the Natanz nuclear complex, one of the sites bombed by American and Israeli forces during the twelve day war last June. Construction at the site began in 2020, after an explosion and fire struck Iran's above ground centrifuge assembly facility at Natanz. Iranian officials said at the time that operations were being moved deeper into the mountain to secure the production chain for advanced centrifuges. The facility was not struck during last year's war, for reasons that have not been fully explained publicly, and analysts have previously assessed it was not yet operational at that time.

Moving sensitive enrichment equipment into a site built to withstand conventional airstrikes significantly complicates any future Israeli or American attempt to strike it. Facilities carved deep into mountains require specialized munitions to destroy, and while Israel has developed advanced capabilities for hitting hardened targets in recent years, a site of this depth presents a serious challenge.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been trying to persuade President Trump to resume large scale strikes on Iran in order to set back both its nuclear program and its recovery efforts, according to the report. The push comes amid concern in Jerusalem that any agreement reached between Washington and Tehran could leave Israel exposed to a renewed Iranian nuclear threat. International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi recently said that the memorandum of understanding signed with Iran grants agency inspectors full access to Iranian facilities, though it remains unclear whether that access extends to underground sites such as Pickaxe Mountain.

The report reopens a familiar rift between Jerusalem and Washington over how to handle the Iranian threat. Israel continues to view Iran's nuclear project as an existential danger requiring immediate and decisive action, while the United States has leaned more heavily toward diplomatic solutions and monitoring agreements. The transfer of centrifuges into a protected facility will likely reinforce concern in Israel that time is working in Iran's favor.

The United States had previously weighed a possible operation to extract enriched uranium from Iran, but Trump ultimately shelved the plan due to the risks involved.