Satellite imagery shows a sharp increase in construction activity this year at Iran’s deeply buried Pickaxe Mountain complex near Natanz, according to a new analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
CSIS said on Wednesday that imagery from 2020 through 2026 shows the site has shifted from active excavation toward probable internal construction and continued exterior reinforcement, with more road activity this year than at any point in the site’s history.
The analysis said the activity includes hardening tunnel entrances, paving internal roads, reinforcing access areas and removing excavation spoil. It said the available imagery could neither confirm nor disprove Israeli intelligence claims that Iran moved centrifuges into the complex.
CSIS said the lack of an increased internal security posture and the absence of observed nonconstruction vehicles and equipment suggested the underground facility was not yet capable of uranium enrichment, if enrichment is its intended purpose.
Pickaxe Mountain, about two kilometers south of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, is a large underground tunnel complex built into granite. CSIS said its depth and fortifications would make it extremely difficult to destroy even with the heaviest US conventional bunker-buster bombs.
The think tank said open-source evidence was not enough to fully reveal what was happening at the facility, outlining possible uses including centrifuge assembly, uranium enrichment and other nuclear-related research and activities.
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