The Iranian “Jabal Ax” site, close to the Natanz nuclear complex, witnessed a significant increase in construction work during the current year, while the United States continues to study ways to target Iranian nuclear facilities buried at great depths underground.
On Wednesday, CNN reported on a new analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), based on satellite images over a period of six years, that the site witnessed a “clear surge in construction activity,” and that the facility located inside a granite mountain is likely designed to protect activities related to the Iranian nuclear program.
“Ax Mountain” is located near the Natanz complex, about 220 kilometers south of Tehran, and has been the subject of monitoring by intelligence services that believe it is a potential site to protect future Iranian nuclear activities.
The center's analysts said that the facility may be used to assemble centrifuges, for enrichment, or to host other work "related to nuclear weapons," including converting uranium into metal.
The works included fortifying tunnel entrances, paving internal roads, and enhancing access areas. Analysts said that continued construction indicates that the site “is not yet capable of carrying out enrichment work,” if that is its purpose.
American plans to strike
CNN reported, citing an informed source, that the US Army maintains operational plans to strike Jabal Ax. The site was among a package of targets studied earlier this summer, when President Donald Trump threatened to expand attacks on Iran.
The source said that the plan to target the site included the use of some of the largest bombs in the American arsenal, but it is still unclear whether these munitions can penetrate deep enough to destroy what Iran may have transported into the mountain.
The granite that houses the facility represents a challenge even to the heaviest American non-nuclear bombs, according to the center’s experts.
Three informed sources told the network that American plans to test capabilities to strike deep underground facilities were related to the war with Iran, and to the need to develop a way to target its deepest facilities, and perhaps simulate strikes against specific nuclear facilities.
Four days before the start of Operation Epic Fury, a Defense Threat Reduction Agency official signed a $1.2 million emergency contract to repair an underground test facility in White Sands, New Mexico, to conduct live-fire testing of classified capabilities against emerging threats.
Satellite images reviewed by CNN showed the start of excavation work at the site between February 16 and 18, before the outbreak of war on the 28 of the same month. Like Ax Mountain, the American testing facility is located within granite rocks.
It quoted another informed source as saying that parties within the US Department of Defense recently held an “intensive planning round” regarding ways to direct decisive strikes on deep underground facilities.
Trump brought Ax Mountain back to the forefront of the nuclear confrontation last week, when he told reporters that the United States might target the site “very soon.”
Trump added that Washington is monitoring movements inside, saying: “We know everyone who moves” at the site. “If anything bad happens, we hit them,” he said. "We hit them hard."
Grossi: “Serious concern”
The movements in “Ax Mountain” come as the International Atomic Energy Agency says it lacks the information necessary to determine the status of Iranian nuclear facilities and materials, after field verification operations were unable to resume.
The IAEA Director General, Rafael Grossi, said on Monday, during the quarterly meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna, that the lack of information and the inability of inspectors to access the facilities represent “a serious concern in terms of nuclear proliferation.”
He added that more than a year had passed since the agency lost “continuity of knowledge” about Iran’s previously declared stockpiles of low-enriched uranium and uranium enriched to 60 percent in facilities affected by the June 2025 attacks.
The last thing recorded by the agency before verification operations stopped was 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to the level of 60 percent, in addition to 8,599.6 kilograms of less enriched materials.
Grossi said that Tehran had not submitted a report required under the safeguards agreement on changes that may have occurred in nuclear materials after the attacks, and that the agency needed to know the status of stockpiles and access to affected sites.
He explained that Iran informed the agency that it would not cooperate until progress was made on the political track, adding: “There is no engagement, and there is no information.”
He stressed that Iran is still a party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and that its obligations under the safeguards agreement do not disappear due to war or political negotiations.
Move towards the Security Council
Grossi was asked at the same press conference about Trump’s threat to strike “Axe Mountain” and the impact of any new attack on the agency’s work, but he declined to comment on American military plans.
He said: “These are national decisions. “I am a diplomat, and I believe in diplomatic solutions,” he said, adding that recent developments showed the need to return to engagement and reach a solution that provides stability and predictability.
He stressed that the “best and shortest path” to a positive outcome is for Iran to return to cooperation with the agency, saying that the issues raised by Tehran regarding access to facilities, security of inspectors, and protection of military information and data can be addressed.
On the other hand, the Iranian mission to international organizations in Vienna said on Wednesday that its delegation informed the agency’s Board of Governors that violations of confidentiality within the agency had previously led to the disclosure of sensitive information that was later used, according to Tehran, to facilitate acts of sabotage against nuclear facilities subject to safeguards.
The mission said that such violations represent a “source of grave concern” and that they must be dealt with, at a time when Tehran clings to its concerns regarding the protection of nuclear and military information.
The developments coincide with a move by the United States, Britain, France, and Germany to issue a resolution by the IAEA’s Board of Governors referring the Iranian nuclear file to the Security Council for the first time in nearly 20 years.
The draft resolution calls on Iran to urgently address its non-compliance with the safeguards agreement, and allow verification operations to ensure that nuclear materials are not diverted, with an emphasis on supporting a diplomatic solution and calling on the parties to engage in negotiations.
In June 2025, the Board of Governors adopted a resolution concluding that Iran had violated its obligations related to safeguards and non-proliferation, due to its failure to fully cooperate with an investigation into traces of uranium found in undeclared sites.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei said on Monday that Tehran would respond if the Board of Governors adopted a new resolution against it, while the Iranian mission in Vienna described the Western effort as a “desperate attempt.”
Tensions have escalated between Türkiye and Greece amid violent statements and mutual warnings, despite their keenness to build relations based on trust and good neighbourliness.
These tensions raised a question about whether Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings later this September, or whether the meeting will be cancelled.
The last meeting between Erdogan and Mitsotakis was held on the sidelines of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit hosted by Ankara on July 7 and 8 last year. Questions began in the Greek press about the possibility of their meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meetings due to tensions and exchanges of statements in the recent period.
Will Erdogan and Mitsotakis meet?
The Greek newspaper Kathimerini promised that if a meeting was held between Erdogan and Mitsotakis, this would indicate that the channel of communication between them was still open. If it is not held, this will be an important indicator of the state of relations between the two countries.
She wondered whether the issue of the positive agenda and building confidence between the two countries was still on the table, after the high-level Cooperation Council meeting, which was held in Ankara last February under the chairmanship of Erdogan and Mitsotakis, or whether the recent tensions had cast a negative shadow on it.
The Cooperation Council did not aim to develop radical solutions to the outstanding controversial issues, and left their management to the periodic meetings that discuss confidence-building measures and the positive agenda meetings held at the level of the two Foreign Ministries since 2023, which focus on trade, tourism, and cooperation in the field of disasters.
Following the Strategic Council meeting in February, Mitsotakis announced that there are controversial issues regarding maritime borders in the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean, and that they will be resolved through international arbitration.
Turkey argues that there are a number of issues in the Aegean Sea, including the arming of islands with non-military status under the “Treaty of Lausanne” of 1923 and the “Paris Agreement” of 1947, in addition to the width of territorial waters, the demarcation of the continental shelf, applications of airspace and the flight information zone, and the status of small islands and rocks whose sovereignty was not transferred to Greece under these two agreements.
Greece adheres to expanding its territorial waters to a distance of 12 nautical miles, and stresses that the only point of disagreement with Türkiye in the Aegean Sea is the demarcation of the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone in the eastern Mediterranean.
Exchanging statements
Statements made by the Greek Prime Minister in Thessaloniki, a few days ago, caused more tension, after he spoke about international developments, saying: “Clouds are gathering in the sky, and the waters of international relations are becoming more turbulent. We are approaching a turning point.”
Greece, which has recently been increasing its defense spending, signed an agreement to establish the “Achilles Shield” project with Israel on August 31, to establish a multi-layered air defense system in Greece worth 3.1 billion euros ($3.6 billion), raising Ankara’s concern, as observers view it as leading to an imbalance in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean regions.
Mitsotakis revealed a defense plan aimed at completing the strengthening of his country's capabilities by 2030, which includes supplying its army with French Rafale fighters, the American F-35, and Belara frigates, in addition to the "Achilles Shield" system, pointing out at the same time that there are currently "important legal obstacles" to Turkey's acquisition of F-35 fighters, and that he does not see how they can be overcome.
In statements last week, Erdogan warned Greece against continuing to arm the Aegean islands that are legally classified as demilitarized, saying that “Turkey will do what it must do at the appropriate time.”
He called on Greece to reverse the “wrong path” it is currently taking, adding that “history is a good guide for those who draw lessons from it... Greece must realize that Turkey does not covet anyone’s lands, but it will not allow anyone to violate its rights, and that ignoring and violating international agreements “will not benefit anyone.”
Calming meetings
Amid this atmosphere, the heads of the two countries' intelligence services, Ibrahim Kalin and Themistocles Demiris, met in Athens last week to discuss developments.
This was preceded by a meeting between Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and his Greek counterpart, George Gerapetritis, in Sofia on June 10, to discuss the “Maritime Jurisdiction Law,” which is being studied by the Turkish Parliament, known in the media as the “Blue Law,” which the Turkish Ministry of Defense describes as “a framework for filling the legal gap related to the areas of jurisdiction in the Black Bahrain, the Mediterranean, and the Aegean Sea.”
Mitsotakis stressed, in a joint press conference with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and the Cypriot President, following the tripartite cooperation mechanism summit meeting in El Alamein, on Tuesday, that his country wants to establish good relations with Ankara, noting that the main disagreement between the two countries relates to defining areas of maritime jurisdiction in the Aegean Sea and the eastern Mediterranean, and that “no discussion will take place with Türkiye regarding the issues it raises, which Greece considers unimportant.”
