'We'll knock it out fast': Trump says may target Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility

'We'll knock it out fast': Trump says may target Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility

'We'll knock it out fast': Trump says may target Iran's Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility

US President Donald Trump said the US wanted to ensure the nuclear weapons never fall into Iranian hands (AP photo).

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said Washington may strike Iran's Pickaxe mountain facility as he seeks to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, while ruling out the use of nuclear weapons in the ongoing war.

Speaking to Newsmax, Trump said the US was examining the possibility of targeting the site, which is buried deep underground near one of Iran's alleged main nuclear facilities, Reuters reported.

"Their nuclear is buried under millions of tons of mountain. Now we're looking at Pickaxe Mountain. We may have to go there,” Trump said.

“We'll take a shot at that one. We'll knock it out fast," he added.

Trump also rejected the need to deploy nuclear weapons against Iran, saying the US could achieve its objectives without them.

"I wouldn't use nuclear. We don't have to," Trump told the news outlet.

Trump said the US wanted to ensure the nuclear weapons never fall into Iranian hands "because if they had it, they would use it."

He reiterated that he was not considering sending American ground troops into the country.

The war began in February with US-Israeli strikes against Iran.

Trump did not clarify whether he had authorised the use of the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast (MOAB), commonly known as the “mother of all bombs”, against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites.

However, he stressed that the MOAB was not a nuclear weapon.

According to Anadolu Agency, Iran’s Pickaxe Mountain lies around 1.5 kilometres south of the Natanz nuclear facility and is believed to house nuclear centrifuges relocated from other sites. The mountain is made of solid granite and extends to a depth of up to 600 metres, with Iran allegedly excavating more than 100 metres beneath it.

There have also been unverified claims that some of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium may be stored at the site, where it could be further enriched for potential use in nuclear weapons.

Earlier, Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said “no nuclear activity is taking place” at Pickaxe Mountain, dismissing US threats as “a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage”.

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