Deep Underground: New Images Reveal Fortified Iranian Nuclear Site

Lebanon Today

Recent satellite images published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington show extensive construction and fortifications at a facility known as “Mount Mind,” located south of Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. The report was issued on October 27, 2025.

The images reveal advanced excavation operations inside the mountain, in addition to the construction of tunnels believed to be aimed at transferring the most sensitive uranium enrichment activities to heavily fortified underground sites. This move aims to make targeting these facilities from the air more difficult, whether by the United States or Israel.

This development comes a year after the stalemate in the nuclear negotiating track between Tehran and the West, and amid escalating regional tensions in the Gulf region, Lebanon, and the Red Sea. This underscores the Iranian nuclear file as a fundamental exacerbating factor in the region.

International analysts believe that Iran is moving towards fortifying its nuclear program instead of submitting to international monitoring, which could significantly change the rules of deterrence in the region.

Experts point out that the protected facilities inside the mountains, and at great depths beneath the rocks, pose a practical challenge to any military operation aimed at impeding them or imposing strict international control over them.

The American report has raised concerns about the possibility of a regional race towards possessing nuclear capabilities, amid questions about: the extent of Washington and Tel Aviv’s ability to carry out precise strikes deep in the mountains; the future of international control over Tehran’s program; the absence of clear prospects for the return of the nuclear agreement.

In contrast, the Gulf states are following these developments with great caution, while European countries are renewing their call to resume negotiations on updated foundations that ensure Iran’s commitment to the terms of the nuclear agreement signed in 2015.

Observers believe that the Mount Mind facility could constitute a dangerous turning point, describing it as: “a possible burial of the last chances to revive the nuclear agreement… and the beginning of a new nuclear deterrence phase in the Middle East.”

The question remains: Is the Iranian nuclear file on the verge of an open arms race, after years of managing the crisis behind closed doors?