The Islamic Republic appears to be gauging its nuclear capabilities decimated in the 12-day war with Israel in June, as satellite images have picked up activity at two key Iranian sites for the first time in months.
Roofs have been built over two damaged buildings at the Natanz and Isfahan facilities in the past few weeks, according to images picked up this week.
The activity signals efforts by Tehran to obscure the International Atomic Energy Agency’s ability to monitor the sites, rather than the rebuilding of nuclear capacity, according to experts who examined the battered locations.
“They want to be able to get at any recovered assets they can get to without Israel or the United States seeing what survived,” said Andrea Stricker, an Iranian expert with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Stricker said the regime is likely assessing whether key assets — such as limited stocks of highly enriched uranium — survived the devastating strikes.
Because Tehran has refused to allow IAEA inspectors to visit its nuclear facilities since the crippling attacks by the US and Israel, satellite images was their only means of monitoring them.
The Natanz site, 135 miles south of Tehran, is especially key as it produced the majority of Iran’s uranium enrichment.
An Israeli strike on June 13 left it “functionally destroyed,” “seriously damaging” its enrichment capabilities. according to the IAEA. A US attack a few days later with bunker-busting bombs is thought to have decimated whatever was left.
Images show the regime began building a roof over the damaged plant in December, completing work there by the end of the month, and by early January at the Isfahan site.
It has also ramped up work to build a new underground nuclear facility a few hundred feet from the Natanz complex, that’s been described as so deep that US airstrikes likely couldn’t reach it.
Satellite images show piles of dirt from the excavation growing in size.
President Trump has demanded Iran negotiate a deal over its nuclear program to avert US military strikes in response to the country’s deadly crackdown on protesters.
The US has repeatedly threatened military action if the Islamic Republic fails to negotiate a deal over its nuclear program, with at least eight US warships deployed to the Middle East, escalating tensions in the region.
With Post Wires
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