Satellite images taken on September 13 showed accelerated reconstruction work at the Talgahn 2 facility inside the Parchin military complex, about 30 kilometres southeast of Tehran, according to a report issued Thursday by the Institute for Science and International Security.
Construction equipment and a cover concealing the Talgahn 2 facility
The Washington-based institute said images taken by Ventour Technologies showed a cover being installed over the destroyed, underground-hardened facility, concealing ongoing construction from satellites and aerial reconnaissance. The report observed heavy construction-equipment activity at the site, including dump trucks, bulldozers, pumps, concrete mixers and cranes.
Earlier strikes and ongoing repair work
The site was hit by another Israeli strike in March 2026 after the Israeli military said Iran was repairing it following the first strike. According to the institute, initial repairs began in June 2026 and included placing concrete covers over holes it said were caused by bunker-busting bombs dropped by the Israeli Air Force. It said the continued reconstruction raised questions about Tehran’s plans for using the facility.
The Israeli military said Iran had used the site in recent years to develop advanced explosives and conduct sensitive tests linked to the Amad project, which it described as a secret programme to develop nuclear weapons. The report also attributed to Western intelligence agencies the claim that tests related to detonating nuclear bombs had been conducted at the site more than two decades ago.
Iran denies seeking to acquire nuclear weapons. Since the war between Iran and Israel in June 2025, Tehran has barred the International Atomic Energy Agency from accessing the damaged nuclear sites, hampering the agency’s verification of the status of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium.
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said last week that the agency had detected construction work in the Jabal Peakaks area of central Iran, a site that Western intelligence agencies believed had been designated for storing nuclear materials.
