Iran's nuclear mountain just got threatened with America's biggest bomb
1 day ago · 16 October 2026Share
President Trump participates in a press conference with the Prime Minister of Israel. File photo. Margo Martin · Public domain
Donald Trump just said it again. The US could strike Pickaxe Mountain, Iran's buried nuclear site.
And this is the fourth time since July he's said it in public.
He said it in an interview with Newsmax host Rob Finnerty, filmed at the White House, a day ago. Donald Trump says quote "We'll knock it out fast."
So what is Pickaxe Mountain? It's a nuclear site built deep underground, right next to Iran's Natanz facility. Iran declared it a centrifuge assembly site five years ago.
Donald Trump has been threatening to hit it since July. He said on 4 September the US could strike it very soon. So the threat itself isn't new.
But here's what's different this time. The weapon.
CNN first reported, a day ago, that officials said plans now call for a specific bomb — the GBU-43/B, known as the MOAB, the "mother of all bombs." The plan is to use it on Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites, Pickaxe Mountain included. CBS News reported the same day that the White House and the Pentagon have the MOAB plans ready, if Donald Trump gives the order.
So would he use it on Pickaxe Mountain? Donald Trump wouldn't say. He did confirm one thing — the MOAB is not a nuclear weapon.
Now, this bomb has only been used once before. In 2017, against an Islamic State tunnel network in Afghanistan.
And here's a problem. Nobody agrees on how much it weighs. CBS News says upwards of 30,000 pounds. Al Jazeera and a wire report say about 21,600 pounds, or 9,800 kilograms. That second number is the figure that matches the MOAB — 30,000 pounds is closer to a totally different weapon, the GBU-57 bunker-buster. Neither CBS nor anyone else has cleared this up.
And experts don't agree on what the bomb would even do to the mountain.
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A view of the Blue Salon at the Palais Coburg hotel in Vienna, Austria, where bilateral meetings between the United States and Iran took place during nuclear negotiations. File photo. U.S. Department of State · Public domain
Elijah Magnier told Al Jazeera a MOAB strike wouldn't guarantee the site gets destroyed. He said it could amount to political theatre.
Colonel Nidal Abu Zeid told Al Jazeera the opposite. He says the blast would flatten everything above ground within a kilometre, and the bomb doesn't even need to hit the target to go off.
So two military experts, looking at the same bomb and the same mountain, landing on opposite conclusions.
Donald Trump also ruled out ground troops. Asked directly, he says quote "No, I don't see that. I don't see that."
He said if the US pulled out of Iran within a year, it might have to go back in. And he said the goal is simple — Iran can never get a nuclear weapon.
He also said the wider war with Iran would be over very soon. He said Iran had asked the US to stop, and that the two countries are now negotiating.
CBS News reported that a White House spokesperson said the administration does not comment on sensitive military plans that may or may not exist, and said Donald Trump keeps all options on the table to make sure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon. CBS News also reported that a Pentagon official said the Department of War plans for a wide range of scenarios to carry out direction from the president and the defence secretary.
Now the timing. Just a week ago, before this interview, Donald Trump said the US wouldn't attack Iran before the midterm elections. Those elections are on 3 November.
No Iranian government response to the interview has turned up anywhere.
So what's actually changed here isn't the threat. Donald Trump has made it before. What's changed is the detail — plans now reportedly name the exact bomb, and he still won't confirm or deny using it.
Whether that's a step toward a real strike, or more pressure before talks, is something nobody on either side has said.
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