▲ Esmail Baghaei, Spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs
In response to U.S. President Donald Trump's remarks that the U.S. will soon strike the so-called "Pickaxe Mountain," suspected of housing an underground nuclear facility in Iran, the Iranian Foreign Ministry has refuted the claims, stating that no nuclear activity is taking place in the area.
Esmail Baghaei, spokesperson for Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted on X (formerly Twitter) on the 22nd (local time) that "U.S. attacks and threats against Iran's peaceful nuclear facilities are violations of the principles of the UN Charter, international law, IAEA and UN Security Council resolutions, and reveal a deep-seated hostility toward Iran's scientific development."
He continued, "Iran's nuclear activities have been fully declared to the IAEA in accordance with safeguards obligations," adding that "the U.S. obsession with Pickaxe Mountain, where no nuclear activity takes place, is nothing more than a fabricated pretext for aggression and destruction."
Baghaei asked, "Where on earth and what is the IAEA Director General, who is also a candidate for the next UN Secretary-General, doing?" and emphasized that "the Iranian people are ready to respond with all their might to any hostile acts by the U.S. that violate our sovereignty and national security."
Pickaxe Mountain is located near Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility and is known to house a fortified underground nuclear facility.
President Trump stated the previous day, "We will hit that area (Pickaxe Mountain) very strongly in the near future."
(Photo: Capture from the Iranian Foreign Ministry website, Yonhap News)
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