Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to present intelligence alleging that Iran is expanding activity at its underground Pickaxe Mountain site and is not negotiating in good faith over its nuclear program during a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump on July 28, according to a source in Jerusalem cited by the New York Post.
The source said the war involving Iran and Tehran's nuclear program will be among the main topics of discussion during the meeting. Netanyahu's team is expected to present what it describes as evidence of Iran's latest nuclear activities and argue that the Iranian government is misleading the international community about its willingness to pursue peaceful negotiations.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Israel has obtained evidence indicating that nuclear centrifuges have recently been delivered to the Pickaxe Mountain facility for the first time since construction of the site began in 2020.
The underground complex, located more than 300 feet beneath Kolang Mountain near Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, has long been suspected of playing a role in the country's nuclear program. However, there had previously been no publicly available evidence of nuclear activity at the site.
President Trump had earlier cited the absence of confirmed nuclear activity at Pickaxe Mountain as a reason the site was not targeted during previous U.S. strikes on Iran. Last week, he also told reporters that the United States had no information indicating activity at the facility.
Iran has rejected the allegations. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei dismissed Trump's claims about a new nuclear facility, calling them baseless and intended to justify further military action against the country.
"Washington’s obsessive focus on Kolang Kouh where no nuclear activity is taking place is nothing more than a fabricated pretext for aggression, destruction, and sabotage," Baghaei wrote on X.
By Sabina Mammadli
