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What is Pickaxe Mountain, the Iranian nuclear-linked site threatened by Trump?

US President Donald Trump has threatened to attack a site linked to Iran's nuclear programme known as Pickaxe Mountain (Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La in Persian), a fortified facility buried deep underground near one of Tehran's main nuclear sites. The threat reflects escalating tensions as Tehran and Washington trade fire in the Gulf, setting back efforts to end the conflict. Here is what we know about Pickaxe Mountain: What is Pickaxe Mountain? Pickaxe Mountain is located 220 kilometres south of Tehran and 2km from the Natanz nuclear complex. The Natanz site, where two of Iran's uranium enrichment plants were located, was bombed during the war started by the United States and Israel on February 28, and during last year's 12-day war. The tunnel facility under construction at Pickaxe Mountain was not targeted in either of those wars, according to the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), a US-based think-tank focused on nuclear non-proliferation....
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Lebanese president sets 3 conditions for Hezbollah disarmament, including Israeli withdrawal

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has set three conditions for the possible disarmament of Hezbollah, beginning with an end to the Israeli occupation of areas in southern Lebanon, according to a Lebanese presidency statement Wednesday. Aoun made the remarks during a dinner hosted by Lebanon’s ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh Mouawad, in honour of the president and his delegation. The event was attended by members of Congress and US administration officials. The dinner was held Tuesday evening on the final day of Aoun’s official visit to Washington, where he met with US President Donald Trump. “Hezbollah can be disarmed if we are honest about what it truly requires: ending the occupation, the army assuming full control, and a reconstruction program managed solely by the state,” Aoun said. “The armed group is not a foreign mercenary force, but is made up of Lebanese citizens shaped over four decades by ideological, social and military investment into a non-state armed group operating outside government control,” he said. “This reality does not make the goal less urgent, but it makes the method more important,” he added. Read: Lebanese army begins deployment in southern town under framework agreement with Israel Citing examples from other conflicts, including the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the Irish Republican Army in Northern Ireland, Aoun said the path forward is clear: “disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration.” He said the process begins with removing the root cause long cited by Hezbollah to justify its existence: Israel’s occupation of Lebanese territory. “It continues with the Lebanese army assuming full and exclusive operational control, which requires immediate and unconditional support for Lebanon’s military as the country’s only legitimate defender,” he added. “The process ends with reintegration through a reconstruction program run solely by the Lebanese state and coupled with real economic opportunities so that weapons are no longer the only option,” the president said. In a separate development, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the start of Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory marks “the beginning of a path” that the state will continue to pursue until a full withdrawal from all Lebanese territory is achieved. Salam made the remarks during a visit to Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon, a day after Lebanese army units began deploying in the town under the first phase of a framework agreement, according to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office. Salam was accompanied by Defence Minister Michel Menassa, Army Chief of Staff Hassan Audi, Higher Defence Council Secretary-General Mohammed al-Mustafa and other senior officials. “This is a national moment that carries significant political and moral dimensions, because it represents the beginning of the Israeli withdrawal from our land,” he said. Read more: Rubio meets Lebanon's president, discusses Israel-Lebanon framework agreement During the visit, Salam raised the Lebanese flag in the town square. “What we are witnessing today is merely a beginning, but we are determined and steadfast, and we will continue to mobilise all our political and diplomatic efforts to secure the complete withdrawal from all Lebanese territories,” he added. “The Lebanese Army and security forces are present to protect our returning people, and in parallel with completing the army’s deployment, we will continue to open roads, clear rubble and secure basic services, enabling our people to return safely and with dignity to their homes and villages,” Salam said. On June 26, Lebanon and Israel signed a framework agreement providing for a phased Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Lebanese territory, but it does not include a timetable for the withdrawal. Instead, it links completion of the process to the Lebanese army assuming full security responsibility in areas vacated by Israeli forces and the disarmament of armed groups, including Hezbollah. According to official Lebanese figures, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed 4,328 people and injured 12,230 others since March 2. Israel continues to occupy parts of southern Lebanon, some of which have been held for decades and others seized during the previous war between October 2023 and November 2024.

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At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

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Indian devotees splurge on jets, gold idols as Hindu temple opens

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Arab countries, Pakistan likely to observe Eid on same day

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