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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) – Iran has started construction of a site for its Fordo underground nuclear facility amid tensions with the United States over its atomic program, satellite photos obtained on Friday by the ‘Associated Press show.
Iran has not publicly acknowledged any new builds at Fordo, the West’s discovery of which in 2009 was in a first round of brinkmanship before world powers struck the 2015 nuclear deal with Tehran.
While the purpose of the building remains unclear, any work at Fordo will likely raise further concerns in the final days of the Trump administration ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Iran is already building its nuclear facility in Natanz after a mysterious July explosion there that Tehran described as a sabotage attack..
“Any changes to this site will be watched carefully as a sign of the direction of Iran’s nuclear program,” said Jeffrey Lewis, an expert from the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies who studies Iran.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The International Atomic Energy Agency, whose inspectors are in Iran as part of the nuclear deal, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Construction of the Fordo site began at the end of September. Satellite images obtained from Maxar Technologies by the AP show construction underway in a northwest corner of the site, near the Shiite holy city of Qom, about 90 kilometers southwest of Tehran.
A satellite photo from December 11 shows what appears to be a foundation dug for a building with dozens of pillars. These pillars can be used in construction to support buildings in seismic areas.
The construction site is northwest of Fordo’s underground facility, built deep in a mountain to protect it from possible airstrikes. The site is close to other Fordo support and research and development buildings.
Among these buildings is the Iranian National Center for Vacuum Technology. Vacuum technology is a crucial part of Iranian uranium-gas centrifuges, which enrich uranium.
A Twitter account called Observer IL earlier this week posted an image of Fordo showing construction, citing it as coming from the Korea Aerospace Research Institute of South Korea.
The AP subsequently reached the Twitter user, who identified himself as a retired IDF soldier with a background in civil engineering. He asked that his name not be published on previous threats he had received online. The Korea Aerospace Research Institute admitted to taking the satellite photo.
Trump in 2018 unilaterally withdrew the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, in which Tehran had agreed to limit its uranium enrichment in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. Trump cited Iran’s ballistic missile program, regional policies, and other issues surrounding the withdrawal from the deal, though the deal focused entirely on Tehran’s atomic program.
When the United States stepped up sanctions, Iran gradually and publicly abandoned the boundaries of the deal as a series of escalating incidents pushed the two countries to the brink of war earlier this year. .. Tensions remain high.
As part of the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran agreed to stop enriching uranium at Fordo and instead turn it into “a nuclear, physical and technological center.”
“This location was a major sticking point in the negotiations leading up to the Iran nuclear deal,” Lewis said. “The United States insisted Iran shut it down while Iran’s supreme leader said keeping it was a red line.”
Since the collapse of the agreement, Iran has resumed its enrichment.
Shielded by the mountains, the facility is also surrounded by anti-aircraft guns and other fortifications. It’s about the size of a football field, large enough to accommodate 3,000 centrifuges, but small and rugged enough to cause U.S. officials to suspect it had a military purpose when they exposed the site publicly in 2009. .
Right now, Iran is enriching uranium up to 4.5%, in violation of the deal’s 3.67% limit. Iranian parliament passed bill that forces Tehran to enrich up to 20%, a small technical step away from the weapon quality levels of 90%. The bill would also dismiss IAEA inspectors.
Experts say Iran now has enough low-enriched uranium in storage for at least two nuclear weapons, if it chooses to pursue them. Iran has long maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful.
While Iranian President Hassan Rouhani opposed the bill, the country’s Guardian Council subsequently amended and approved it. The bill seeks to put pressure on European nations to relieve crippling US sanctions.
Meanwhile, an Iranian scientist who created his military nuclear program two decades ago was recently killed in a shooting outside of Tehran.. Iran blamed Israel, long suspected of killing Iranian nuclear scientists over the past decade, for the attack. Israel did not comment.
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Follow Jon Gambrell on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
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