Satellite images reveal Iran repairing Fordow site after strike
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New satellite images show Iran clearing damage and restoring access at Fordow nuclear site after US and Israeli bunker-buster bomb strikes.
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Satellite image reveals possible excavators repairing access to Iran's underground facility at Fordow. (©2025 Maxar Technologies)
New satellite imagery reveals construction efforts at Fordow, one of Iran's bombed nuclear facilities, suggesting early-stage attempts to restore access. The images, captured Friday by US commercial satellite company Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider (BI), document visible activity around tunnel entrances and areas hit by recent airstrikes.
The images show excavators and bulldozers moving earth near craters on the northern mountain ridge at Fordow. These areas were struck by GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator bombs, known for targeting underground bunkers. The primary impact points were exhaust shafts, used by the Pentagon to deliver strikes deep into the facility.
Other equipment appears to be clearing and constructing new access routes. Some efforts are focused on repairing the site’s main access road, potentially to facilitate evaluations of the facility’s current condition. However, the full intent of the activity remains unclear.
US-Israeli srikes targeted Fordow’s exhaust shafts
According to defense sources, cited by BI, the joint US and Israeli strikes concentrated on infrastructure that allowed air and access to the underground complex. By disabling exhaust shafts, the strikes intended to disable the facility without direct penetration into all fortified chambers.
A report by the Royal United Services Institute in March stated, barring continuous attacks, Iran would likely begin restoring access immediately after any strike on its nuclear program. The recent images may confirm those predictions.
Following the ceasefire agreement, US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran's nuclear infrastructure have ceased. President Donald Trump claimed the operations "completely obliterated" the targeted sites, while Israeli officials asserted the strikes have set Iran's nuclear program back by years.
Last weekend, the US struck three Iranian nuclear sites, Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan, with air-dropped bombs and cruise missiles aiming to degrade Iran’s nuclear program. The full extent of the damage remains unclear, with experts noting that multiple precise hits are needed to significantly cripple Fordow.
According to the Business Insider, the Pentagon revealed bunker-buster bombs were dropped during "Operation Midnight Hammer," after 15 years of study on how to destroy the site. While President Trump claimed Iran can never rebuild, analysts say the strikes may have set back Iran’s program by months or years but haven’t eliminated its nuclear weapons potential. Also, some assessments suggest the attacks could even accelerate Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
Read next: Iran denies Mossad raid on Fordow, calls Israeli video fake
