Satellite images of Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility raise a concern

Officials from the United Nation’s (UN) atomic watchdog had confirmed on October 28 that Iran has started building an underground centrifuge assembly plant after its previous one exploded in what Tehran called a sabotage attack over the summer.

The construction has begun at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility, satellite images released Wednesday show.

Natanz nuclear facility in Iran is largest uranium enrichment facility and it is about 250km (150 miles) south of the capital Tehran.

Earlier in August, Bloomberg published details of a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN's nuclear watchdog, which concluded that Iran was attempting to boost uranium enrichment at the plant.

If believed to be true then this move would be in violation of a 2015 nuclear deal Iran signed with several world powers.

“That road also goes into the mountains, so it may be the fact that they’re digging some kind of structure that’s going to be out in front and that there’s going to be a tunnel in the mountains,” said Jeffrey Lewis, an expert at the institute who studies Iran’s nuclear programme. “Or maybe that they’re just going to bury it there.”

(With inputs from agencies)