Near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, workers are building a nuclear facility so deep in the earth that it is likely beyond the range of a last-ditch U.S. weapon designed to destroy such sites, according to experts and satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press.
The photos and videos from Planet Labs PBC show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehran's standoff with the West over its atomic program.
But what it did do was strictly limit Iran's enrichment of uranium to 3.67 per cent purity, powerful enough only to power civilian power stations, and keep its stockpile to just some 300 kilograms . The Islamic Republic denies it is seeking nuclear weapons, though officials in Tehran now openly discuss their ability to pursue one.
The new project is being constructed next to Natanz, about 225 kilometers south of Tehran. Natanz has been a point of international concern since its existence became known two decades ago. The scale of the work can be measured in large dirt mounds, two to the west and one to the east. Based on the size of the spoil piles and other satellite data, experts at the center told AP that Iran is likely building a facility at a depth of between 80 meters and 100 meters . The center's analysis, which it provided exclusively to AP, is the first to estimate the tunnel system's depth based on satellite imagery.
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