Newly launched satellite tv for pc photos present that Iran has lately constructed a concrete protect over a brand new facility at a delicate army website and coated it in soil, advancing work at a location reportedly bombed by Israel in 2024 amid hovering tensions with america and the specter of regional warfare.
The photographs additionally present that Iran has buried tunnel entrances at a nuclear website bombed by Washington throughout Israel’s 12-day war with Iran final 12 months – which the US joined on Israel’s behalf – fortified tunnel entrances close to one other, and has repaired missile bases struck within the battle.
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They provide a uncommon glimpse of Iranian actions at a few of the websites on the centre of tensions with Israel and the US.
Some 30km (20 miles) southeast of Tehran, the Parchin complicated is considered one of Iran’s most delicate army websites. Western intelligence has recommended Tehran carried out exams related to nuclear bomb detonations there greater than 20 years in the past. Iran has at all times denied looking for atomic weapons and says its nuclear programme is only for civilian functions.
Neither US intelligence nor the UN nuclear watchdog discovered any proof final 12 months that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons.
Israel reportedly struck Parchin in October 2024. Satellite tv for pc imagery taken earlier than and after that assault reveals intensive harm to an oblong constructing at Parchin, and obvious reconstruction in photos from November 6, 2024. Imagery from October 12, 2025, reveals improvement on the website, with the skeleton of a brand new construction seen and two smaller constructions adjoining to it.
Progress is clear in imagery from November 14, with what seems to be a metallic roof protecting the big construction. By February 16, it can’t be seen in any respect, hidden by what specialists say is a concrete construction.
The Institute for Science and Worldwide Safety (ISIS), in a January 22 evaluation of satellite tv for pc imagery, pointed to progress within the development of a “concrete sarcophagus” round a newly constructed facility on the website, which it recognized as Taleghan 2.
ISIS founder David Albright wrote on X: “Stalling the negotiations has its advantages: Over the past two to 3 weeks, Iran has been busy burying the brand new Taleghan 2 facility … Extra soil is on the market and the ability could quickly grow to be a completely unrecognizable bunker, offering vital safety from aerial strikes.”
The institute additionally reported in late January that satellite tv for pc photos confirmed new efforts to bury two tunnel entrances on the Isfahan complicated – one of many three Iranian uranium-enrichment crops bombed by the US in June through the warfare. By early February, ISIS stated all entrances to the tunnel complicated had been ”fully buried”.
Different photos level to ongoing efforts since February 10 to “harden and defensively strengthen” two entrances to a tunnel complicated underneath a mountain some 2km (1.2 miles) from Natanz – the positioning that holds Iran’s different two uranium enrichment crops.
This comes as Washington seeks to barter a cope with Tehran on its nuclear programme whereas threatening army motion if talks fail.
On Tuesday, US and Iranian representatives reached an understanding on major “guiding principles” throughout a gathering in Geneva, however felt in need of reaching any breakthrough. The assembly within the Swiss metropolis got here after a primary spherical of talks in Oman on February 6.
Studies counsel that Tehran would make detailed proposals within the subsequent two weeks to shut gaps. Among the many many hurdles within the negotiations is the US push to widen the scope of the deal to incorporate restrictions on Iran’s ballistic arsenal and help for its allies within the area.
That’s fuelled by Israel’s calls for and regional narrative, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly urgent US President Donald Trump to shift from nuclear-only parameters.
Tehran has insisted that these provisions are non-negotiable however that it’s open to debate curbs on its nuclear programme in alternate for sanctions aid.
A earlier negotiating effort collapsed final 12 months when Israel launched assaults on Iran, triggering the 12-day warfare that Washington joined in by bombing key Iranian nuclear websites.
As diplomacy forges a path, each events are ramping up army strain.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) held a collection of warfare video games on Monday and Tuesday within the Strait of Hormuz to organize for “potential safety and army threats”.
On Wednesday, Tehran introduced new joint naval drills with Russia within the Sea of Oman. Rear Admiral Hassan Maqsoudlou stated the workouts had been geared toward stopping any unilateral motion within the area, and enhancing coordination in opposition to threats to maritime safety, together with dangers to business vessels and oil tankers.
The US has additionally escalated its army build-up within the area. Trump has ordered a second plane provider to the area, with the primary, the USS Abraham Lincoln and its almost 80 plane, positioned about 700 kilometres (435 miles) from the Iranian coast as of Sunday, in keeping with satellite tv for pc imagery.
The Trump administration additionally issued new threats against Tehran with White Home press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying on Wednesday that “Iran can be very clever to make a deal” with the US. Trump escalated his rhetoric on social media.
“Ought to Iran determine to not make a Deal,” the US might have to make use of an Indian Ocean airbase within the Chagos Islands, “with a view to eradicate a possible assault by a extremely unstable and harmful Regime”, he wrote on his Reality Social platform.
