A
general view of Tehran after several explosions were heard, in Tehran,
Iran, October 26, 2024. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency)
via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
Satellite photos show Israel hit Iran former nuclear weapons test building, missile facilities, researchers say
WASHINGTON,
Oct 26 (Reuters) - An American researcher said an Israeli airstrike on
Saturday hit a building that was part of Iran's defunct nuclear weapons
development program, and he and another researcher said facilities used
to mix solid fuel for missiles also were struck.
The
assessments based on commercial satellite imagery were reached
separately by David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector, and
Decker Eveleth, an associate research analyst at CNA, a Washington think
tank.
They
told Reuters that Israel struck buildings in Parchin, a massive
military complex near Tehran. Israel also hit Khojir, according to
Eveleth, a sprawling missile production site near Tehran.
Reuters reported in July that Khojir was undergoing massive expansion.
Eveleth said the Israeli strikes may have "significantly hampered Iran's ability to mass produce missiles."
The Israeli military said
three waves of Israeli jets struck missile factories and other sites
near Tehran and in western Iran early on Saturday in retaliation for
Tehran's Oct. 1 barrage of more than 200 missiles against Israel.
Iran's
military said the Israeli warplanes used "very light warheads" to
strike border radar systems in the provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan and
around Tehran.
In
posts on X, Albright said commercial satellite imagery showed that
Israel hit a building in Parchin called Taleghan 2 that was used for
testing activities during the Amad Plan, Iran's defunct nuclear weapons
development program.
The
U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, and U.S.
intelligence say Iran shuttered the program in 2003. Iran denies
pursuing nuclear weapons.
Albright,
head of the Institute for Science and International Security research
group, was given access to the program's files for a book after they
were stolen from Tehran by Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in 2018.
On X, he said the archives revealed that Iran kept important test equipment in Taleghan 2.
Iran
may have removed key materials before the airstrike, he said, but "even
if no equipment remained inside" the building would have provided
"intrinsic value" for future nuclear weapons-related activities.
Albright
told Reuters that commercial satellite imagery of Parchin showed Israel
damaged three buildings about 350 yards (320 m) from Taleghan 2,
including two in which solid fuel for ballistic missiles was mixed.
He did not identify the commercial firm from which he obtained the images.
Eveleth
said an image of Parchin from Planet Labs, a commercial satellite firm,
showed that Israel destroyed three ballistic missile solid fuel mixing
buildings and a warehouse in the sprawling complex.
Planet
Labs imagery also showed that an Israeli strike destroyed two buildings
in the Khojir complex where solid fuel for ballistic missiles was
mixed, he said.
The
buildings were enclosed by high dirt berms, according to the image
reviewed by Reuters. Such structures are associated with missile
production and are designed to stop a blast in one building from
detonating combustible materials in nearby structures.
"Israel
says they targeted buildings housing solid-fuel mixers," Eveleth said.
"These industrial mixers are hard to make and export-controlled. Iran
imported many over the years at great expense, and will likely have a
hard time replacing them."
With
a limited operation, he said, Israel may have struck a significant blow
against Iran's ability to mass-produce missiles and made it more
difficult for any future Iranian missile attack to pierce Israel's
missile defenses.
"The strikes appear to be highly accurate," he said.
Axios
reported that Israel destroyed hit 12 "planetary mixers" used to
produce solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles, quoting three
unnamed Israeli sources as saying this severely damages Iran's ability
to renew its missile stockpile and could deter Iran from further massive
missile strikes against Israel.
Iran has the Middle East's largest missile arsenal and supplied
missiles to Russia for use against Ukraine, and to Yemen's Houthi
rebels and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah, according to U.S. officials.
Tehran and Moscow deny that Russia has received Iranian missiles.
Planet
Labs imagery reviewed earlier this year by Eveleth and Jeffrey Lewis of
the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey showed
major expansions at Khojir and the Modarres military complex near Tehran
that the pair assessed were for boosting missile production, Reuters
reported.
Three senior Iranian officials confirmed that conclusion.
Sign up here.
Reporting by Jonathan Landay; Editing by Alistair Bell, Don Durfee and William Mallard