Satellite Images Reveal Iranian Activity at Nuclear Site Trump Bombed
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Satellite imagery shows activity at one of the three Iranian uranium enrichment sites that President Donald Trump said had been obliterated in U.S. military strikes last month.
The images, provided by satellite company Maxar, outline a new access road winding up the mountain where the Fordow nuclear facility is located.
Newsweek reached out to the Iranian Foreign Ministry for comment.
Why It Matters
Despite the Trump administration's boasts about the effectiveness of bunker-busting bombs being dropped on Iran's nuclear sites, the satellite imagery will prompt further questions over the country's ability to reconstitute an atomic program.
What To Know
On June 22, U.S. long-range bombers dropped 12 "bunker-buster" bombs on the facility, which detonated underground after piercing the mountains.
The satellite images released by Maxar show the craters left behind and a new road winding up the mountain where the facility is located. There are also several vehicles in the images, including what analysts identified as an excavator and a mobile crane.
THREAD: New high-res satellite images captured today by Maxar Technologies show bulldozers and excavators at work near two air strike sites at Iran's Fordo enrichment facilitiy after the complex was bombed by both the US and Israel. https://t.co/DzAf6JK5WM pic.twitter.com/ndrRJJ3uQG — Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) July 1, 2025
An analysis of the photos by the Institute for Science and International Security, as cited by The Wall Street Journal, suggests that the excavator was likely preparing an entry point to insert cameras or personnel into the craters to assess the damage.
There was no visible activity at Fordow's tunnel entrances, which were sealed, and the trucks in the images appeared to be dump trucks used to haul away debris, according to the paper.
Questions remain over the effectiveness of the strikes on Fordow, as well as Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites.
The Defense Intelligence Agency's initial assessment was that the strikes only set back the Iranian nuclear program by a few months, but the White House has disputed this report.
Uriel Abulof, a visiting professor in Cornell University's government department, told Newsweek on June 24 that Iran's leadership, emboldened by survival rather than victory, may be quietly advancing toward a nuclear breakout under the radar.
Abulof, who is also a professor of politics at Tel Aviv University, said that with only 50 advanced centrifuges, Iran could enrich 50–60 kilograms (110 to 130 pounds) of uranium from 60 percent to weapons-grade 90 percent within weeks, which is enough for a basic atomic bomb.
That bomb wouldn't need to be launched on a missile and could be assembled covertly, without a nuclear test, and delivered in a truck or a shipping container, he added.
This image from March 19, 2025, by Planet Labs PBC via Getty shows the Fordow nuclear site in Iran before the U.S. military strikes.
This image from March 19, 2025, by Planet Labs PBC via Getty shows the Fordow nuclear site in Iran before the U.S. military strikes.
PLANET LABS PBC via Getty
What People Are Saying
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at a Pentagon press briefing on June 26: "If you want to know what's going on at Fordow, you better go there and get a big shovel."
BBC Verify journalist Shayan Sardarizade on X, formerly Twitter: "New high-res satellite images captured today by Maxar Technologies show bulldozers and excavators at work near two air strike sites at Iran's Fordo enrichment facility."
Richard Nephew, a nuclear-weapons expert, per The Wall Street Journal: "If they're (Iran) able to find something, it confirms that this whole 'obliteration' nonsense was wrong."
Professor Uriel Abulof previously told Newsweek: "An Iranian regime under siege, armed with just enough nuclear capability to be dangerous, is the darkest kind of threat."
What Happens Next
What Iran finds underground at Fordow could determine how much material and equipment it has to restart its nuclear efforts, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Meanwhile, there are questions about the fate of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium and the centrifuges used to enrich the fuel, which may have been moved before the U.S. attack.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi said Sunday that Iran could have enough centrifuges spinning within months.
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