Fresh satellite imagery released by the US-based Maxar Technologies has revealed the presence of heavy machinery at Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility, along with evidence of new excavation work and signs that tunnel entrances may have been deliberately sealed before recent airstrikes.
The imagery shows clear signs of renewed activity at the site, including access roads to the underground facility and crater damage from American strikes, particularly near the main tunnel entrances.
Earlier last week, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters that an initial US intelligence assessment concluded that the American attacks targeting Iranian nuclear sites earlier this month have set back Tehran’s nuclear programme by only a few months.
Two of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the matter, said the preliminary report was compiled by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which serves as the Pentagon’s primary intelligence arm and is one of 18 US intelligence agencies.
This classified assessment reportedly contradicts statements by former US President Donald Trump and senior American officials, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who claimed that the strikes — which involved a combination of bunker-buster bombs and conventional munitions — had wiped out the core of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure.
The Trump administration informed the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday that the weekend airstrikes had “reduced” Iran’s nuclear capabilities — a more restrained claim than Trump’s earlier assertion that the facilities had been “destroyed.”
When asked for comment, the White House referred to a statement by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt to CNN — the outlet that first reported the assessment — dismissing the findings as “completely false.”
“Everyone knows what happens when you drop 14 bombs, each weighing 30,000 pounds, on their precise targets: It’s total destruction,” Leavitt said.
However, a US official familiar with the intelligence review noted that the assessment includes several caveats and probabilities, with more comprehensive reports expected in the coming days and weeks.
Analysts also pointed out that if the intelligence relied primarily on satellite imagery, it would not necessarily reveal the full extent of damage to the deeply buried Fordow uranium enrichment plant.
Former President Trump maintained that the strikes were necessary to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. Tehran, however, has consistently denied any ambitions to build a nuclear arsenal, insisting its nuclear programme remains exclusively peaceful.
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