Donald Trump is eyeing a new target in the desert. The U.S. President announced Monday that Washington is preparing to strike Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain, escalating an already blistering standoff with Tehran.
“We’re going to take out Pickaxe Mountain. Tell the Iranians to be ready,” Trump declared during a fiery appearance on the Hugh Hewitt Show.
He claims the site is under constant surveillance. According to Trump, the U.S. military sees no current movement at the location, but he warned that Iranian nuclear ambitions remain in the crosshairs. “Every time we hear about it, we blow it up,” Trump boasted. “So they don’t like talking about it. But we’ll probably give Pickaxe a shot relatively soon.”
This is no soft target. Pickaxe Mountain sits adjacent to the already battered Natanz uranium enrichment facility. It is a fortress. The mountain shields two deeply buried tunnel complexes. Military analysts believe these bunkers are dug so deep they can shrug off the heaviest bunker-buster bombs in the American inventory. Trump apparently doesn’t care.
Earlier on Monday, the administration ratcheted up the economic pressure. Trump announced the U.S. is bringing back its blockade on Iranian shipping in the Gulf. He promised to keep the vital Strait of Hormuz open, though he added a caveat: it will cost them. This follows a chaotic exchange of missile and drone strikes between the two nations.
Trump is not backing down. He promised relentless pressure. “We’re going to hit them very hard tonight and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow,” he said. “And there’s not a damn thing they can do about it.”
