Iran has begun new construction at the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, according to The Associated Press. The agency based its report on satellite photos it obtained from Maxar Technologies, and said that the construction had started in late September. A photo from Dec. 11 shows what appears to be the foundation of a building with dozens of pillars, northwest of Fordow’s underground facility, which is built deep in a mountain to protect it from airstrikes.
The Observer IL Twitter account earlier this week published an October 2020 image, from South Korea’s Korea Aerospace Research Institute, showing what were said to be “foundation trenches … dug for a new 50x70m structure which purpose is currently unknown” at Fordow. The owner of the Twitter account identified himself as a retired Israeli soldier and asked not to be named.
The Iranian government has not acknowledged the construction. Iran is also building at its Natanz nuclear facility, which was hit by a mysterious explosion in July.
The International Atomic Energy Agency declined to comment on the reports, and did not say whether Iran informed it of the construction at Fordow.
According to the terms of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated between Iran, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany – the Islamic Republic agreed to limit its uranium enrichment to 3.67% at facilities such as Fordow in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. After the Trump Administration withdrew the US from the deal and reapplied sanctions, Iran abandoned the limits set in the JCPOA and resumed enrichment there, reaching levels of 4.5%. A bill passed by Iran’s parliament requires the country to ban IAEA inspectors from its nuclear sites and to enrich uranium to 20%, a short technical step from the 90% enrichment levels typically used to produce nuclear weapons.