US President Donald Trump said, "For example, there is the 'Pickaxe Mountain' issue, you need to deal with it as well. We can handle all of these very quickly." His statement led to comments that the USA's next and even most important target in Iran would be Mount Kazma.
The USA targeted Iran's nuclear facilities in Fordo, Natanz and Isfahan as part of the attacks it called "Operation Midnight Tow Truck" on June 22, 2025. Washington and Tel Aviv administrations announced that these attacks seriously damaged Iran's nuclear program.
However, new construction and fortification activities were later detected around Kazma Mountain in satellite images. Analyzes in the international press claimed that the tunnel entrances in the mountain were strengthened with soil and rock pieces against air attacks, and that excavation work was continuing in the region with heavy construction equipment.
Israeli intelligence also has some assessments that Iran moved a large number of state-of-the-art nuclear centrifuges to Mount Kazma and buried them deep underground, thus making them difficult to target in air strikes.
Is Iran conducting its nuclear activities deep inside Mount Kazma?
Kazma Mountain, which was not known to the public until Trump targeted it, is located 1.5 kilometers from the Natanz Nuclear Power Plant.
The most striking feature of the mountain is its hard granite structure. It is claimed that Iran has carried out excavations reaching a depth of 80 to 100 meters under the mountain. It is stated that the total depth of the mountain reaches up to 600 meters.
Israel also claims that Iran keeps its nuclear materials approximately 80 meters below the mountain, and encourages the USA to put pressure on it with this rhetoric and claim and launch a new attack.
It is stated that the excavations inside the mountain were first planned in 2007, but the excavations started systematically in 2020.
It is claimed that Iran moved its critical centrifuges to Kazma Mountain, very close to Natanz, in order to protect them after the sabotage carried out at the Natanz Nuclear Power Plant in 2020 and 2021.
As a matter of fact, it is stated that even the most advanced bunker-piercing bombs cannot penetrate the inner parts of the mountain due to its granite structure.
Former Iranian Atomic Energy Organization President Ali Akbar Salihi also announced that after the Natanz Nuclear Power Plant was damaged in 2020 and 2021, it was on the agenda to move the centrifuges to another region and that they would be placed in a mountain in order to avoid interruption of the production chain.
Although Salihi did not name the region where the centrifuges would be moved, comments were made that they were moved to Kazma Mountain rather than to a remote area in order not to break the production chain.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Erakchi also announced that a third nuclear facility belonging to the country was damaged during the 12-day war. Erakçi stated that the facility in question near Isfahan was not yet operational at the time of the attack.
These statements of Erakchi brought to the agenda again the allegations that Iran had established its new nuclear facility in the depths of Mount Kazma.
However, Ahmed Behshayesh Erdestani, a member of the Security Commission of the Iranian Parliament, in his last statement regarding Kazma Mountain, stated that the actual nuclear materials were not found there and that Ali Akbar Salehi said, "Since they hit Ford, we are moving our facilities located in the flat area underground." He claimed that his statement was misunderstood at the time and that the underground facility in question was described as Kazma Mountain, but Salihi's statement did not mean this.
A training video has been published explaining the precautions to be taken in case of a possible nuclear attack.
American journalist Tucker Carlson, who is considered one of the most influential media figures in US conservative politics, claimed on November 2, based on an unnamed source, that the Trump administration, under the pressure of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was considering the option of a nuclear attack to destroy the nuclear facility allegedly located in Mount Kazma.
In the training video published by IRNA on October 29 and prepared by the Isfahan Prehospital Emergency Health Services Institution, it was explained how the public should act, especially in situations such as nuclear explosions and the spread of radioactive substances.
In the training video, it was explained that one should not look directly at the intense light at the time of the explosion, and should be protected close to the ground and behind a suitable obstacle until the first explosion wave passes. After the first wave, when safe movement was possible, it was recommended to take shelter in the nearest solid building and, if possible, stay in the basement or central parts of the building away from windows.
In the training video, attention was also drawn to the precautions that should be taken against radioactive contamination. It was stated that people who think they may have been exposed to radioactive dust in an open area should carefully remove their outer clothing, put it in a closed bag, and then wash their skin and hair with warm water and soap.
Isfahan Emergency Service called on the public to act without panic in case of a possible radioactive attack, to stay in safe areas and to base their evacuation or shelter decisions on the statements of official authorities.
