Natanz, Iran – Recent satellite images have revealed a significant acceleration in construction and fortification work during 2026 at an Iranian site located deep inside Mount Kolang near the city of Natanz, amid Western suspicions that the site is linked to the establishment of a secret uranium enrichment facility.
Unprecedented activity during 2026
Experts at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said that an analysis of satellite images spanning six years, the most recent of which was on August 9, showed a clear increase in the pace of construction work at the site during the current year.
According to the analysis, the work included reinforcing and raising the tunnel entrances, improving the surrounding fortifications, as well as paving the internal road network and leveling and removing the debris from the excavation operations.
The center explained that the movement of equipment and roadworks within Mount Kolang during 2026 exceeded the levels observed in any previous period since the site’s construction began.
Reports on centrifuges
The experts noted that they were unable to confirm or deny Israeli intelligence reports that spoke of centrifuges being transferred to the facility, which Western intelligence agencies suspect is intended for uranium enrichment activities.
The International Atomic Energy Agency had asked the Iranian authorities to provide information about the location of Mount Kolang and to allow its inspectors access to it, but the center said that Tehran had not responded to these demands according to available reports.
A facility that is difficult to target
The facility’s location within a granite rock mass and at a considerable depth makes it even more difficult to target, with experts suggesting that destroying it could be challenging even with the heaviest conventional American munitions.
Last July, US President Donald Trump threatened to strike the site, saying that Washington would target it “very soon and very hard,” but he has not yet carried out the threat.
These developments come amid the ongoing military confrontation between the United States and Iran, which has entered its seventh month, and the escalation of mutual attacks in the Middle East, coinciding with the targeting of Iranian oil tankers and Tehran launching new attacks on American targets in the region.
