An Israeli satellite imaging company on Thursday released images showing what it described as “unusual” movement around Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility – a clandestine underground uranium enrichment plant that was converted to a research centre as part of the 2015 nuclear deal.
The photographs of the Fordow plant show large numbers of vehicles at the entrance to the facility and other signs of increased activity at the site.
The pictures were released by ImageSat International, a satellite imagery analysis firm based in central Israel, and largely run by former members of the Israeli Air Force.
However, they reportedly do not in themselves indicate any violation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal.
The site, which is buried deep underground, has been protected by the powerful S-300 air defence system since 2016.
As part of the nuclear deal, Iran was forced to limit the number of centrifuges allowed inside Fordow to 1,044, which would be kept in only one wing of the facility, and agreed that it will not conduct any uranium enrichment and will have no nuclear material for 15 years.
