Iran fortifying underground nuclear sites amid talks with US — report

Iran is ringing two deeply buried tunnel complexes with a massive security perimeter linked to its main nuclear facility, a report says, amid US and Israeli threats of attack.

The Institute for Science and International Security releases its report based on recent satellite imagery as the US and Iran prepare to hold a third round of talks this weekend on a possible deal to reimpose restraints on Tehran’s nuclear program.

David Albright, the institute president, says the new perimeter suggests that the tunnel complexes, under construction beneath Mt. Kolang Gaz La for several years, could become operational relatively soon.

Tehran has not allowed UN nuclear inspectors access to the complexes, Albright says.

That has raised concerns that they could be used to store Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium or undeclared nuclear materials, and advanced centrifuges that could quickly purify enough uranium for a bomb, he says.

Iran has said that advanced centrifuges would be assembled in one complex in place of a facility at the nearby Natanz plant, the centerpiece of its nuclear program, destroyed by sabotage in 2020.

The complexes, Albright says, are being built at depths much greater than Iran’s deeply buried uranium enrichment facility at Fordo, near the holy city of Qom.

Commercial satellite images taken on March 29 showed hardened entrances to the complexes, high wall panels erected along the verges of a graded road encircling the mountain peak, and excavations for the installation of more panels, the report says.

The north side of the perimeter joins the Natanz plant security ring, it says.