New satellite imagery indicates activity at two Iranian nuclear facilities bombed last year by Israel and the United States, raising concerns that Tehran may be attempting to conceal efforts to recover sensitive materials.
Images from Planet Labs PBC show new roofs built over damaged buildings at the Isfahan and Natanz nuclear sites, marking the first major visible activity at Iran’s stricken nuclear facilities since Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June, the Associated Press reported.
The coverings prevent satellites from observing ground-level activity, currently the only monitoring method available to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as Iran has barred inspectors from accessing the sites.
Iran has not publicly commented on the construction. The IAEA, the UN’s nuclear watchdog, did not respond to requests for comment.
Experts: Effort likely aimed at obscuring recovery work
Analysts who reviewed the imagery, as per AP, said the structures do not appear to signal reconstruction of the heavily damaged facilities but rather an attempt to shield recovery efforts from outside scrutiny.
“They want to be able to get at any recovered assets they can get to without Israel or the United States seeing what survived,” the news outlet quoted Andrea Stricker, an Iran analyst at the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which has been sanctioned by Tehran, as saying.
She said the work likely reflects attempts to determine whether “key assets — such as limited stocks of highly enriched uranium — survived the strikes.”
Sarah Burkhard, a senior research associate at the Institute for Science and International Security, reportedly echoed that assessment.
“The roofs appear to be part of an operation to recover any sort of remaining assets or rubble without letting us know what they are getting out of there,” Burkhard said.
Sean O’Connor, an analyst with open-source intelligence firm Janes, said the goal was likely “to obscure activity rather than to, say, repair or rebuild a structure for use.”
Isfahan and Natanz: Core of Iran’s nuclear program
Before Israel launched its June offensive, Iran operated three major nuclear sites. While Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, Iranian officials in recent years have increasingly threatened to pursue nuclear weapons.
The Natanz facility, located about 220 km south of Tehran, housed the bulk of Iran’s uranium enrichment operations, including advanced centrifuges used to enrich uranium up to 60% — a short technical step from weapons-grade levels.
The Isfahan site was primarily used to produce uranium gas fed into centrifuges.
A third site, Fordo, located beneath a mountain southwest of Tehran, contained a hardened enrichment facility.
During the conflict, Israel struck the sites first, followed by US attacks using bunker-busting bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles. The White House later said the strikes “significantly degraded Iran’s nuclear program,” though details remain classified.
Iran has not allowed IAEA inspectors to visit the facilities since the attacks.
Roof construction observed at Natanz and Isfahan
Satellite images show Iran began constructing a roof over Natanz’s Pilot Fuel Enrichment Plant in December, completing it by month’s end. Israel struck the building on June 13, leaving it “functionally destroyed,” according to IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi, with underground centrifuge halls “seriously damaged.”
A US follow-up strike on June 22 targeted Natanz’s underground facilities with bunker-busting bombs.
At Isfahan, imagery shows a similar roof completed in early January over a structure near the facility’s northeast corner. While the building’s function is not publicly known, Israel previously said its strikes there targeted centrifuge manufacturing facilities. The Israeli military declined to comment on the new construction.
Imagery also shows tunnels near Isfahan packed with dirt — a defensive measure Iran used ahead of the June war — while another tunnel appears cleared and reinforced with new walls.
Signs of broader military rebuilding
Satellite imagery indicates Iran is also working to rebuild parts of its ballistic missile and military research infrastructure, the news outlet stated.
At the Parchin military complex southeast of Tehran, Iran is rebuilding a site known as “Taleghan 2,” which Israel destroyed in an October 2024 airstrike, according to earlier reporting by the Associated Press.
The Institute for Science and International Security has said the facility previously housed an explosive chamber and specialized X-ray equipment used in tests relevant to nuclear weapon development.
“This has been reconstituted very rapidly,” said Lewis Smart, an analyst at Janes. “It’s being expanded to potentially make it more resistant to penetration attacks and bombings.”
Satellite images show a large containment vessel being installed at the site, which experts say, as per AP, could be used for high-explosive testing.
