A leading U.S. institute monitoring Iran’s nuclear program is warning that Tehran’s secretive underground “Pickaxe Mountain” facility raises serious questions about whether the regime intends to honor its nuclear agreement with the United States.

The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) says inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have never been granted access to the heavily fortified site, located in Iran’s Zagros Mountains.

The warning comes as the Trump administration seeks to implement the memorandum of understanding reached with Iran following Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign launched on February 28 that targeted Iran’s nuclear and missile infrastructure.

According to the institute, newly analyzed satellite imagery from late June shows construction continuing at the underground complex, despite the agreement requiring Iran to maintain the status quo at nuclear-related facilities.

Spencer Faragasso, a senior fellow at ISIS who specializes in Iran’s nuclear program, said the continued work is “deeply concerning.”

“The ongoing work at Pickaxe Mountain is deeply concerning. This work has continued steadily since at least 2020,” Faragasso wrote on X. “In my view, this is a hedge by Iran in case negotiations fail—they will then have a nuclear facility in a late stage of construction. We assessed that Pickaxe is likely large enough to hold an enrichment plant.”

Faragasso argued that if Iran is genuinely interested in diplomacy, it should immediately halt construction and allow IAEA inspectors access.

“If Iran is serious about negotiating, it should halt construction at Pickaxe Mountain as a token of good faith. But what can be expected from a regime as brutal and conniving as Iran’s?” he wrote.

ISIS said satellite imagery shows vehicle traffic entering the western tunnel portals and ongoing work to reinforce the tunnel entrances, indicating construction inside the mountain continues.

The institute argues that these activities appear inconsistent with the memorandum of understanding, which it says should prohibit further work at any nuclear-related site until inspections and verification can take place.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)