The Times reports Iran is taking steps to prepare for a possible US
bunker‑busting nuclear strike on underground facilities after US midterm
election results changed the political backdrop. Circulating videos show
authorities briefing residents on the Pickaxe Mountain facility, about 1 mile
south of the Natanz enrichment site, said to house senior scientists and to be
hardened against conventional weapons. The videos give estimated distances to
nearby population centers—Natanz 17 miles, Kashan 25 miles, Isfahan 117 miles,
Tehran 223 miles—and instruct residents to go indoors, stay indoors and monitor
updates. They warn an attack could loft radioactive debris and that winds could
carry lethal radioactive dust hundreds of miles; residents closest to the site
may have 10–15 minutes to seek shelter, while more distant communities could
have hours.
