Satellite images released of Natanz equipment being moved underground

Following the explosion at the Natanz nuclear facility, Iran is planning to move its nuclear equipment and centrifuge production section underground. Satellite images released indicate Iran's covert activities at the facility.

Reports published by news agencies indicate new constructions in Iran at the Natanz nuclear facility. Satellite images of these constructions were first published on Wednesday, October 28 (November 28).

The Associated Press has published a report announcing that some of Iran's nuclear equipment has been moved underground. The International Atomic Energy Agency has announced that it is aware of Iran's actions in this regard.

The transfer of this equipment, especially the centrifuge section, underground is taking place in response to the July 3 explosion at the Natanz nuclear facility.

The explosion was caused by sabotage, according to the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The National Security Council of the Islamic Republic has not yet released a detailed report on the perpetrators of this sabotage.

Two American approaches

The Associated Press has pointed out two US approaches to the nuclear deal in its report. The report states that the release of satellite images of the transfer of the Natanz nuclear facility underground comes at a time when the US election is only a week away.

According to this report, the maximum pressure from the United States and its withdrawal from the nuclear agreement have actually accelerated Iran's nuclear activities, and the Islamic Republic has come closer to achieving a nuclear bomb than when it was forced to reduce its nuclear activities due to the obligations foreseen in the JCPOA.

In an interview with CNN in September, Joe Biden said that if he wins the election, the United States will once again return to the group of countries that signed the nuclear agreement with Iran.

Agency information

It should be noted that Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency, officially announced on October 27 that part of Natanz's nuclear equipment had been moved underground.

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also told the Associated Press on Tuesday, October 27, that the agency's inspectors were aware of the transfer of this equipment to the basement.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is said to have increased its uranium enrichment to four and a half percent and currently possesses 2,105 kilograms of enriched uranium.

The Associated Press, in its report, quoted nuclear experts as saying that to build a nuclear weapon and enrich uranium to 90 percent, it would be sufficient to have 1,050 kilograms of low-level enriched uranium.

The same news agency has estimated that during the validity period of the nuclear agreement, the Islamic Republic was one year away from obtaining a nuclear bomb, but this gap has now been reduced to only three months.

This is despite the fact that the New York Times, after a fire broke out in the centrifuge production section of the Natanz facility in July, announced that this sabotage operation had disrupted Iran's nuclear program and set back the level of nuclear activities by one to two years.

The move of the Natanz nuclear facility's equipment underground is aimed at protecting it from possible air attacks. This is despite the fact that the facility has previously been the target of cyberattacks, in addition to the July 12 explosion.

It is said that Israel and the United States succeeded in obtaining some of its sensitive information by infecting this facility with the Stuxnet virus.

Source: DW