By Emem Nsini-Godwin
Iran has once again rejected United States allegations that it is operating a covert nuclear facility beneath Kolang Mountain, responding hours after President Donald Trump threatened military action against the site located in central Iran.
In a statement posted on X on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei described Washington’s accusations as baseless and politically motivated.
“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,” Baqaei wrote.
He insisted that all Iranian nuclear activities have been fully declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, and are subject to international oversight.
The latest denial followed comments by President Trump on Tuesday in which he warned that the United States could soon launch a major strike against the mountain, known in English as Pickaxe Mountain.
“We’ll be hitting that area pretty soon, and very heavily,” Trump said, adding that although he would not normally reveal military targets in advance, “there’s not a thing they can do about it.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, no U.S. military action had been reported against the site.
Kolang Mountain has remained a point of contention since 2025, when several American media organisations, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, reported that Iran had intensified construction work on what was described as a secret underground nuclear complex beneath the mountain. Tehran strongly denied the reports at the time, calling them part of a broader campaign of disinformation.
The disputed site is located near Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, one of the country’s principal uranium enrichment centres. Natanz was targeted during a brief but intense confrontation between Iran and the United States in June 2025, when American forces carried out strikes on several Iranian military and nuclear-related locations.
The renewed exchange of accusations has raised fresh concerns about escalating tensions between Washington and Tehran, with analysts warning that any military strike on Kolang Mountain could trigger a wider regional confrontation.
Iran has repeatedly stated that its nuclear programme is intended solely for peaceful purposes, while the United States and some of its allies continue to express concerns that Tehran could be seeking capabilities that would enable it to develop nuclear weapons.
