Originally appeared at ZeroHedge
New satellite images widely circulating in international press purport to reveal that Iran has begun construction on an underground nuclear facility at Fordo in Qom province, which lies in the north of the country.
The site has been a suspected place of nuclear development since at least 2009 when it was first uncovered by the West, however, since the US exit from the 2015 nuclear deal which Trump pulled out of in May 2018, it’s believed the Iranians are pursuing underground facilities at the site deep within a protective mountain.
#Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plan #IRAN – New construction activity located in the support/R&D area, 350 meters East of the actual complex. Leveling started in September 2020. Foundation trenches were dug for a new 50x70m structure which purpose is currently unknown. #JCPOA #IMINT pic.twitter.com/k42vTZrJni
— Observer IL (@Obs_IL) December 16, 2020
Iran has not publicly disclosed any new construction at the site and has always maintained that its nuclear program, long since subject to rigorous United Nations IAEA inspections, is only for peaceful domestic energy purposes.
Iran has lately threatened to suspend the IAEA inspections, with hardliners in parliament recently giving legal cover to President Hassan Rouhani for such a move, which he hasn’t acted on yet. However, Israel would likely be provoked enough to launch some type of preemptive action on Iran’s declared and undeclared nuclear development sites if inspectors were booted from the country, and monitoring cameras switched off.
It also remains that the public satellite imaging analysis institutes advancing the claims of a new underground nuclear facility can’t ultimately be sure that’s what’s happening there.
The Associated Press details the satellite images as follows:
Construction on the Fordo site began in late September. Satellite images obtained from Maxar Technologies by the AP show the construction taking place at a northwest corner of the site, near the holy Shiite city of Qom some 90 kilometers (55 miles) southwest of Tehran.
A December 11 satellite photo shows what appears to be a dug foundation for a building with dozens of pillars. Such pillars can be used in construction to support buildings in earthquake zones.
The site is raising suspicions given there’s construction happening deep inside the mountain, believed for the purpose of protecting a sensitive part of the facility from airstrikes.
Satellite images show construction at Iran's nuclear facility at Fordo https://t.co/QHPwgjtnWG
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) December 18, 2020
Defense analysts in the West are now carefully monitoring development and changes at the site, also at a sensitive moment the outgoing Trump administration has vowed to keep up it’s ‘maximum pressure’.
This has reportedly included Secretary of State Mike Pompeo being issued broad authority to pursue covert action to degrade the Islamic Republic’s capabilities short of sparking war, according to a Daily Beast report from early this month.
Meanwhile, on Friday Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz stressed that Israeli army forces “are ready to confront any possibility of the Iranian threat in the region,” in fresh comments made to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley. It’s an alarming sign that even with just weeks to go in the Trump presidency, a major conflict with Iran is a distinct possibility, also as hawks fear Biden will restore the JCPOA nuclear deal the moment he takes office.
good and bury the new facility deep, make the bomb, fit it on the best missile and aim it at tel aviv and bury the thieving and murdering jews in palestine at 6 feet. they have long ago forfeited the right to be a part of mankind, unfortunate for them that they can’t control their greed and the need to lay their sticky hands on anything and everything they see, like land, other people’s possessions and so on ad infinitum.
Most intelligence agencies estimate that Iran has a dozen 10kt nuclear weapons obtained at the collapse of USSR via Ukraine along with KH-55 missiles.
Sell your lies to the ones who are dumb enough to believe it Ali, we know that you aim to get nuclear weapons in order to threaten our existence. Israel got bunker busters from the U.S, and that facility will be destoyed when the time comes.
Silly little boy again :) How is getting Iran out of Syria coming along?
Coming along very well, according to our IDF chief of staff, Aviv Kochavi. Tell me, why hasn’t Nasrallah acted as he promised? maybe he knows what a war against us means. Now go serve your country in Kashmir you coward, maybe do something useful so your parents would be proud of you.
You dumb wanker kid, you are beyond laughable.
One of North Korean Nuclear test was an Uranium made bomb. You better be careful. Beside that hole Lebanon-Israel border is empty for about 5 months you know why? Yes, because Nasrallah said something back then
Nasrallah has been saying alot of things Emad, he knows we are not scared of him or his threats. On the contrary, a retaliation from Hezbollah now is a gift for us, first Lebanon then Syria. it’s been a while since we had a major operation and we have alot of new weapons we need to test on them, just need a reason.
No, he said revenge will come and Israel cleared the whole border for about 5 months, replaced women soldiers and robots at there. You tested it in Syria and Armenia and we analyzed it, thanks dude hahaha some of them didn’t work and the lovely Syrian gave it to Iran for some reason haha
Nasrallah, is aware you wish his response, and because he’s a very mean man, he has taken the decision to withhold his promised response that you will be denied the joy of your wish being granted until such time as pig’s fly. To answer your question, yes he does in fact have a complete understanding of what war against you pretenders means. To both you, and to real life. We would be proud of your parent’s, should they perform retroactive abortion, on their sub-standard, retard offspring.
You are a bunk busting wanker.
Piss off.
Blah, Blah, Blah…..Gak !!! Defective little <> parrot troll. Sales of your obsolete, unupgradable, unimaginative, blatant untruth’s, programing installed on your cheap, low ROM, unreliable AI reverse engineered copy of a Commodore 64 floppy disc operating system, made, hacked by a division of Headshrinking Phd’s, on US Government payroll, at a clandestine, military PsyOps development alphabet agency, notorious for producing malfunctioning malicious software. You’re stuck in a closed loop, regurgitating inflated, and convoluted bytes of fragmented reruns of analog programs at random at high-speed. You’re a one useless idiot clown show, (three ring circus) that cannot be uninstalled using known technology. It is hoped that a muting program can be created in future as technology advances. Until then we continue to be embarrassed for you, and pray to your Zionist Khazar non-God, or whatever that you’re self humiliation, may slightly less than infinite. You pathetic, pitiful pretender parrot non-gender specific troll.
So its okay for your country to have nukes, but its not okay for another country to even want nukes? Okay Mr. Jewish supremecist. Its funny how you people shamelessly show off how arbitrary you are with your massive double standards.
Iran has outfoxed its enemies by deploying decoy facilities while its real arsenal remains a mystery to all. Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is really very modern and well developed and encompasses over 120 known sites and over a 200,000 employees, engineers and scientists. Iran’s nuclear infrastructure is largely geared towards a fossil free future and a highly advanced diversified economy.
Iran brother very STRONK!
It is fair and it would be in new deal with Biden….Zion stop have gay sex with Wahhabi States and Iran stop, or Zion and Wahhabi State have their gay sex and Iran make more nuclear facility to protect themselves against Satan gay kids.
Or you know it is because of US+Zion+Wahhabi killed one of Iran nuclear researcher and Iran give them the finger.
Seriously, DIMONA has how MANY nuke warheads ? The malicious, dirty ‘neighbour’ will continue to destabalise the whole region, flout international laws, using it’s nuke advantage. This means there will NEVER be peace. It either means Dimona is DESTROYED to SMASH the nuke monopoly in the mid-east OR another country obtains nukes.
Examples ? Pakistan/India, China/India.