Arya News - Iran has attempted to salvage material from its bombed nuclear sites, new satellite images suggest.
Iran has attempted to salvage material from its bombed nuclear sites , new satellite images suggest.
Aerial pictures from Planet Labs PBC, a US earth-imaging company, show roofs have been rebuilt over two damaged buildings at the Isfahan and Natanz facilities , the first significant activity observed there since the end of the war.
Experts said the construction could indicate Iranian scientists attempting to recover key nuclear assets that may have survived the bombing without detection by Israel or the United States.
The activity at the sites occurred since the beginning of December, during which time Iran was gripped by protests and faced subsequent threats of US military action.
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Copy of Iran"s Natanz nuclear enrichment site
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Since the end of Israel’s 12-day war in June , which concluded following the US intervention, Iran has focused on rebuilding its ballistic missile arsenal.
In a show of defiance, Iran is also set to hold live-fire naval exercises in the Persian Gulf within miles of two US destroyers in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.
Fast-attack boats capable of firing missiles at warships are expected to spearhead two days of drills in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global energy choke point , on Sunday.
The exercises raise fears of a showdown with US warships that have moved into the region after Donald Trump ordered naval and air assets to deploy within striking distance of Iran.
The US military warned the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), whose naval wing is expected to lead the drills, not to attempt any overflights or high-speed boat approaches.
“We will not tolerate unsafe IRGC actions,” said US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East theatre. “The US military has the most highly trained and lethal force in the world.”
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When under pressure, the IRGC has often sought to demonstrate aggression in the Persian Gulf, leading to a series of tense encounters with US and Royal Navy warships.
In 2023, IRGC fast boats shadowed a US destroyer and a British frigate through the Strait of Hormuz with their machine-gun nests uncovered. The US has now signalled it would not tolerate such a threatening posture.
Raising the stakes further, Tehran issued radio warnings to mariners announcing it would conduct drills in the main northern shipping lane of the strait, which is only 21 miles wide at its narrowest point. About 100 vessels carrying roughly 20 per cent of the world’s daily oil production pass through the waterway every day.
The drills appear designed to project resistance and send two clear messages. First, that Iran could fulfil its long-standing threat to seal the strait in response to any strike on its territory, potentially crippling global energy supplies.
While experts debate Iran’s ability to sustain a full blockade, even the threat of one could be enough to trigger market turmoil and send prices soaring.
Second, the exercises are a reminder that Iran, despite its battlefield reversals over the past year, retains an anti-ship cruise missile capability.
These weapons pose a direct threat to the US “armada” assembling in the region . This includes the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group in the Arabian Sea, two guided-missile destroyers patrolling the strait and three littoral combat ships positioned inside the Gulf to counter asymmetric “swarm” attacks.
Iran’s maritime is staging the show of defiance as Arab and Muslim states mount last-ditch efforts to avert a war they would once have quietly welcomed.
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Iran"s Natanz nuclear enrichment site
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Officials in Qatar, Oman, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey have all attempted to mediate between Tehran and Washington in recent days, but there has been no sign of a breakthrough.
Believing the Iranian regime to be tottering after last year’s 12-day war and this month’s ruthlessly suppressed protests , Mr Trump is demanding more concessions than ever before.
Under US terms, the ayatollahs would not only have to agree to cease all uranium enrichment. But they would also need to accept limits on Iran’s ballistic missile programme – including surrendering warheads capable of reaching Israel – and end support for regional proxies such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Far from signalling any willingness to compromise, however, Iran has adopted an increasingly bellicose posture. It has warned that it is prepared for war and ready to retaliate against any attack.
Analysts fear that a regime that has slaughtered its own people on an unprecedented scale may have decided to abandon restraint abroad as well, signalling a readiness to set the region alight in a bid for survival.
Arab states worry that Iran could respond to an attack by targeting both US military bases and their own oil and gas infrastructure.
Beyond a symbolic and carefully calibrated strike on a US base in Qatar, Iran responded to American attacks on its nuclear facilities in June with restraint, an approach some analysts believe Tehran has now concluded was a mistake.
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