New satellite imagery from late June 2026 shows that Iran has not resumed activity at its three main nuclear facilities, but continued construction and vehicle movement is visible at Pickaxe Mountain, the secretive underground site near Natanz whose exact purpose remains unknown even to Western intelligence, according to the Institute for Science and International Security, the Washington based nonproliferation think tank run by nuclear expert David Albright.
The images, provided to the institute by the satellite firm Vantor, show vehicles moving along roads leading to an open set of western tunnel portals at the site, which analysts say indicates ongoing construction inside the tunnel complex as well as continued hardening of its entrances. The facility, known in Persian as Kuh e Kolang Gaz La, or Pickaxe Mountain, sits roughly two kilometers south of the Natanz enrichment complex and has never been officially acknowledged by Iran, the United States or Israel. It has been referenced only obliquely in past remarks by President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, and its purpose has never been publicly disclosed. According to foreign reports, the complex is dug some 80 to 100 meters deep into a granite mountain.
By contrast, the institute reported that little activity could be observed at the main Natanz enrichment complex itself, where access points to the underground enrichment halls remain destroyed and vehicle entrances remain severely damaged, with only a single vehicle visible on the road outside the Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant. At Isfahan, the institute said there has been no observed activity as of June 29, with tunnel portals still backfilled with dirt from earlier efforts to conceal them. Fordow has similarly shown no signs of renewed access to its underground enrichment plant.
