Satellite Images Reveal Iran's Activities at 'Talghan 2'

Iran is accelerating its reconstruction of a nuclear facility previously targeted by Israeli airstrikes, according to recent satellite imagery cited in a report released Thursday by the Washington-based International Science and Security Institute.

The institute stated that Iran "is moving forward swiftly with the reconstruction of the Talghan 2 facility," located within the Parchin military complex, about 30 kilometers southeast of Tehran.

Israel had targeted the site in October 2024, as part of a brief exchange of attacks with Iran earlier that month, and struck it again in March amid ongoing hostilities, after the Israeli military reported Iran was repairing the site following the initial strikes.

The Israeli military announced that Iran used the site in recent years for "developing advanced explosives and conducting sensitive experiments under the Amad Project," a suspected secret Iranian program believed to have aimed at developing nuclear weapons and which reportedly ran from the late 1990s until 2003.

Western intelligence estimates suggest Tehran conducted tests related to nuclear bomb detonations at the Talghan 2 site more than two decades ago.

In its latest report, the institute noted that satellite images captured by company Fantor Technologies on September 13 show that "Iran has placed a cover over the damaged, underground facility, obscuring ongoing reconstruction activities from view by satellites and aerial reconnaissance."

The report stated: "Intensive activity can be observed across the construction site, with vehicles—including dump trucks, excavators, concrete mixing and pumping trucks, and cranes—actively engaged in reconstructing the facility."

The institute also pointed out that in June 2026, preliminary repair work was carried out at the Talghan 2 facility, where Iran sealed the holes caused by Israeli strikes with concrete covers.

Images also show the construction of a new concrete reinforcement around the area surrounding the facility on the right side, which the report says will provide "additional protection against explosions resulting from any potential aerial attack," according to the International Science and Security Institute.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and maintains its program has peaceful objectives.

It is believed Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium was buried underground following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day war in June 2025.

Since that conflict, Iran has barred the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from accessing damaged nuclear sites, leaving the UN body unable to verify the status of Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile, which approaches the level of purity needed for weaponization.

Last week, IAEA Director Rafael Grossi stated the agency detected construction activities in a mountainous region in central Iran, Western intelligence agencies suspecting the site may be designated for storing nuclear materials.

Source: Sky News