By David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, Spencer Faragasso, and the Good ISIS Team
On Saturday, February 28, the US and Israel launched their operations Epic Fury and Roaring Lion, respectively. Nuclear facilities were not expected to be the immediate targets this time, rather, it was expected the priorities would be first gaining control over Iranian Air Space and denying retaliation capabilities.
Iran reported that the Natanz nuclear complex was struck twice on March 1.[1] Neither the US nor Israel confirmed the strikes. Low resolution imagery published on X[2] confirmed damage at the site. The Institute acquired high-resolution imagery taken by Vantor that shows the damage in detail.[3]
The images dated March 2, 2026, show that personnel entrances and the sole vehicle entrance to the non-operational, underground Natanz enrichment plant were targeted. Damage to the facility was further confirmed by the IAEA on March 3rd.[4]
Figure 1 shows the severe damage to the two personnel entrance buildings, as well as the damage to a building covering the vehicle entrance ramp. It includes ground images of the two, 3-story, identical personnel entrance buildings, in addition to the building covering the vehicle access ramp with an inside view from the vehicle access ramp.
Figure 2 shows the buildings before the attack, in the morning of March 1, for comparison.
Figure 3 shows the entrances under construction in 2003 and their location vis a vis the underground enrichment halls.
Figure 4, a February 28 Airbus image of the area in front of the vehicle access to the FEP, shows that temporary roadblocks have been moved out of the way to allow vehicle access. A vehicle can also be seen outside the tunnel entrance. In mid-January, the roadblocks are not visible, but a vehicle is seen outside the entrance. This indicates Iran may have accessed the underground site with vehicles, which could allow Iran to recover centrifuge items and possibly enriched uranium cylinders. This could explain the urgency of attacking the vehicle entrance and personnel entrances.
Figure 1. High resolution imagery taken on March 2 shows the damaged personnel and vehicle entrance buildings and ground photos of what they looked like before the attack.
Figure 2. A satellite image taken shortly before the strikes on March 1.
Figure 3. The entrances can be seen under construction in 2003, showing their location vis a vis the large underground enrichment halls, which were still being buried with layers of rock and cement.
Figure 4. Activity is seen outside the vehicle entrance point in the days before the strike.
[1] https://fa.shafaqna.com/news/2223641/ (in Farsi).
[3] See the full tweets here (https://x.com/thegoodisis/status/2028544278285451747) and here (https://x.com/thegoodisis/status/2028556613087539686)
[4] https://x.com/iaeaorg/status/2028763510021251158.