Bomb Iran? Physics Says Not So Fast

President Donald Trump’s new vow to bomb Iran’s secret underground “Pickaxe Mountain” nuclear site exposes a deep clash between bold promises, hard physics, and a U.S. government many Americans already fear is serving elite interests, not public safety.

Story Snapshot

Trump says the U.S. will hit Iran’s buried Pickaxe Mountain nuclear site “very heavily” and that Iran “can’t do a thing” to stop it.
Earlier U.S. strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities were sold as total “obliteration,” but intelligence later said the program was only weakened and delayed.
Experts warn Pickaxe Mountain’s extreme depth may be beyond the reach of current American bunker-buster bombs, raising doubts about Trump’s new threat.
Iran’s nuclear work at the mountain is still unclear, while Tehran’s war-crimes indictment of Trump adds legal and moral pressure and risks wider war.

Trump’s Promise to “Take Out” Pickaxe Mountain

President Trump has again put Iran at the center of U.S. foreign policy by promising a major strike on its deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain complex. In a radio interview, he said, “We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready,” and added that “there’s not a thing they can do about it.” He has also spoken of giving the site a “nice big fat shot right near the front door,” signaling heavy bombardment against what he calls a key nuclear threat.

Trump ties this new threat to his claim that earlier U.S. and Israeli strikes already “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program. After joint attacks in 2025 on sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan, the White House declared that Iran’s nuclear facilities had been “completely and totally obliterated” and that suggestions otherwise were “fake news.” Many Americans hear these strong words and see a leader projecting power, but they also recall past promises that did not fully match later facts.

What and Where Is Pickaxe Mountain?

Pickaxe Mountain is a massive granite ridge near Iran’s Natanz nuclear center, where U.S. and Israeli bombs struck last year. Satellite images and expert reports show a large tunnel complex under construction inside the mountain, with spoil heaps and new roads pointing to an expanding underground network. Analysts say the site is not yet fully operational, but they view it as a “candidate” for future nuclear activities, possibly for storing equipment or enriched uranium deep under rock.

American and allied intelligence agencies are watching the mountain closely. Trump has said the U.S. has “eyes on the site at all times,” and reporting confirms ongoing surveillance of suspected Iranian nuclear locations. Yet there is still no confirmed public evidence that Iran has moved active centrifuges or weapons-grade uranium into Pickaxe Mountain. International nuclear inspectors have not been allowed into the complex, so its exact purpose remains uncertain, even as it becomes one of the most closely watched facilities in Iran.

Can U.S. Bombs Really Reach a Site This Deep?

The key technical question is whether American weapons can penetrate the huge depth and hard granite above Pickaxe Mountain’s tunnels. Defense and nuclear experts say Iran is digging far deeper than past facilities, likely aiming to outlast even the largest U.S. bunker-buster bombs. Some analyses describe the mountain’s underground halls as hundreds of meters beneath solid rock, far deeper than what current bombs have proven they can reliably reach.

The United States used its most powerful known bunker-buster, the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, against Iran’s Fordow site in 2025, but even then Fordow was left nonoperational rather than destroyed outright. Later intelligence reporting suggested the overall nuclear program was only delayed, not ended, and raised doubts about how much damage the deep target actually took. Today, analysts openly debate whether any existing air-delivered weapon can truly “take out” a facility as deep as Pickaxe Mountain, despite Trump’s confidence.

Past “Obliteration” Claims vs. Intelligence Reality

Trump’s new threat lands in a context where many Americans, right and left, already distrust official war stories. After the 2025 strikes, the administration said the bombing campaign had “obliterated Iran’s ability to create nuclear weapons.” But a later assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies concluded with low confidence that Iran’s program had only been delayed by months, not destroyed, and noted that Iran was still not actively building a bomb at that time.

IRAN’S ENRICHED URANIUM BELIEVED MOVED TO PICKAXE MOUNTAIN

Israel assesses that Iran relocated part of its 440 kg stockpile of highly enriched uranium and thousands of advanced centrifuges to the underground Pickaxe Mountain facility following the 12-day Israel-Iran war in June… https://t.co/B2gyX7Chlk

— Mossad Commentary (@MOSSADil) July 21, 2026

Independent experts and former officials have also challenged the “obliteration” story, saying the strikes caused serious damage but did not wipe out Iran’s nuclear know-how or all its materials. Reports point out that enriched uranium stockpiles remained buried in deep underground containers and that Iran began trying to rebuild damaged sites and explore even deeper tunneling. For citizens who already believe Washington oversells wars while under-sharing truth, these conflicting claims feel like more proof that the government’s messaging serves politics and contractors first.

Legal, Regional, and Public Backlash Risks

Iran’s government has responded not only with fierce rhetoric but with lawfare. Its judiciary has indicted Trump and Israeli leaders on war-crimes charges tied to prior strikes, aiming to paint future attacks as illegal aggression. While U.S. officials reject these claims, the indictments feed global debate about American use of force and could make allies more cautious about backing a new operation against Pickaxe Mountain. This legal pressure fits a wider pattern where foreign and domestic critics say powerful leaders operate above the rules.

Regional risk is also high. Iran’s network of proxy groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and fighters in Yemen, has signaled it will hit U.S. partners if strikes continue. Military advisers have warned about “full-scale offensive operations” if the mountain is attacked, meaning American bases, Israeli cities, and energy routes could all be at risk. For many Americans worried about high energy prices, endless wars, and a growing gap between elites and ordinary families, another large Middle East bombing run looks less like safety and more like the same old playbook that never seems to fix the core problems.