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Satellite imagery from Iran shows that the Khamenei-regime is accelerating efforts to fortify cardinal atomic and rocket sites, arsenic the United States ramps up its subject beingness successful the portion and warns that clip for diplomacy is moving out.The images, captured betwixt precocious 2024 and February 2026, amusement caller factual shielding, buried passageway entrances and reconstruction astatine rocket bases antecedently struck during past year’s Israel-Iran conflict, arsenic reported by Reuters.
The developments travel amid renewed atomic talks and progressively blunt rhetoric from Washington. The United States has besides deployed its largest subject beingness successful the Middle East since the 2003 penetration of Iraq, heightening concerns implicit imaginable strikes against Iran arsenic President Donald Trump considers his adjacent move.
According to sources cited by CNN, US forces could beryllium prepared to enactment arsenic soon arsenic this weekend, though nary last determination has been made.
Trump is said to beryllium consulting advisers and overseas leaders, balancing the risks of subject enactment against the prospects for diplomacy.President Donald Trump convened elder advisers this week to sermon adjacent steps pursuing negotiations successful Geneva. According to Axios, officials described the medication arsenic person to a imaginable subject run than galore Americans realise.
White House property caput Karoline Leavitt said “there are galore arguments 1 tin marque successful favour of a onslaught against Iran”, though she added that the president prefers diplomacy and that “Iran would beryllium omniscient to marque a deal”.Against that backdrop, outer images connection a uncommon model into Tehran’s parallel strategy connected the ground.
Concrete shield astatine Parchin raises caller questions
At the delicate Parchin subject complex, astir 30km south-east of Tehran, imagery shows the accelerated improvement of a damaged operation into what experts picture arsenic a hardened bunker.Israel reportedly struck Parchin successful October 2024. Images taken soon afterwards amusement extended harm to a rectangular building. By November that year, reconstruction was nether way. Satellite photographs from October 2025 uncover the skeleton of a ample caller structure, flanked by 2 smaller buildings. By mid-November, a metallic extortion appeared to screen the main facility.However, images from December amusement the operation partially concealed.
By 16 February 2026, it was nary longer visible, hidden beneath what analysts accidental is simply a factual overbuild covered successful soil.The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) described the improvement arsenic a “concrete sarcophagus” astir a installation it identified arsenic Taleghan 2. In earlier analysis, ISIS said imagery indicated the beingness of a agelong cylindrical enclosure wrong the building, perchance a high-explosives containment vas astir 36 metres long.“High-explosive containment vessels are captious to the improvement of atomic weapons,” ISIS said, portion noting they whitethorn besides person accepted uses.William Goodhind, a forensic imagery expert astatine Contested Ground, told Reuters the extortion had apt been covered with ungraded “to obscure the factual colour”. ISIS laminitis David Albright wrote that burying the installation would supply “significant extortion from aerial strikes”.Iran has consistently denied seeking atomic weapons.
Tunnel entrances buried astatine Isfahan and reinforced adjacent Natanz
Further west, astatine the Isfahan atomic complex, outer images amusement each 3 passageway entrances to an underground analyzable person present been backfilled with soil.The tract was among 3 enrichment facilities bombed by the United States during past year’s 12-day warfare betwixt Israel and Iran. Diplomats accidental parts of Isfahan person stored enriched uranium.ISIS reported successful precocious January that 2 entrances had been buried; by 9 February, a 3rd had besides been sealed.
A 10 February representation confirmed the tunnels were “completely buried”.According to ISIS, backfilling would assistance dampen the interaction of airstrikes and complicate immoderate crushed raid aimed astatine seizing oregon destroying atomic material.Near the Natanz atomic facility, imagery besides points to enactment astatine a passageway analyzable nether a upland astir 2km away, known arsenic Pickaxe Mountain. Analysts observed galore vehicles, including cement mixers and dump trucks, suggesting ongoing efforts to “harden and defensively strengthen” the entrances.ISIS said Iran’s precise plans for the installation stay unclear.
