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by David Albright and Sarah Burkhard

May 5, 2022

This report is an imagery update of earlier reports on the construction progress at the new Natanz tunnel complex, located under a mountain south of the main uranium enrichment site. Commercial satellite imagery from March and May 2022 show new, long extensions at two tunnel entrances, likely to be covered by earth to further protect and secure the entrances. In parallel, construction inside the tunnel appears to be progressing steadily. Major excavation efforts appear completed, while tunnel lining work appears to be ongoing, as well as clearance activities for a possible fourth tunnel portal. It now appears possible that the site could be ready for initial operation in 2022. Based on official Iranian accounts, the new tunnel complex will house a new centrifuge assembly facility to replace the Iranian Centrifuge Assembly Center (ICAC) destroyed in an attack in July 2020. However, a recent Institute analysis found that the new tunnel complex will likely be more deeply buried than Fordow and have significantly more floor space, raising questions about other sensitive nuclear activities at the site, most worrisome, enrichment activities.

Construction Progress

Figure 1 provides an overview of the Natanz tunnel complex as of March 8, 2022, with three visible tunnel portals (two eastern portals and one western portal) and a possible fourth one being constructed. Newly visible since the Institutes January 2022 update are new extensions at two tunnel entrances, one at the western tunnel portal and one at the eastern auxiliary entrance.

Figures 2 and 3 show the tunnel entrances and their extensions in March, situated in a channel of excavated rock, allowing future coverage with earth and providing significant additional protection to the tunnel portals. By May 2022, the eastern tunnel entrance extension is covered, while the extension at the western main portal appears to be in progress (see Figures 4 and 5).

Water appearing to flow from the eastern main portal, previously visible in November 2021, is visible again in May 2022. It is unknown if the water is uncontrolled outflow from the eastern main portal, representing an unexpected construction challenge.

Surrounding spoil piles remained largely unchanged since November 2021, indicating that boring and excavation of the underground complex are largely complete. The addition of a probable concrete batch plant, continued presence of heavy construction equipment and usage of dirt roads, as well as previously visible probable shotcrete equipment indicate that the concrete lining of the complex walls is well underway and that final lining and reinforcement operations of the tunnel complex are ongoing. The possible fourth tunnel portal would likely be constructed relatively quickly and segue into the existing tunnel. A spoil pile associated with road grading and clearance of the area appears to grow quickly.

There has been no visible evidence of centrifuge manufacturing or centrifuge-related equipment being moved into the tunnel complex. It may be possible that such transfers could occur later this year or early next year.

Figure 1. A March 2022 overview image of the tunnel complex under construction south of the main Natanz enrichment plant.

Figure 2. One of the two eastern tunnel portals shows a likely permanent tunnel entrance extension, adding further protection to the entrance.

Figure 3. The western tunnel entrance also features a new entrance extension, likely to be covered by earth in the future, as of March 2022.

Figure 4. The eastern tunnel entrance extension is covered in May 2022.

Figure 5. The western tunnel entrance extension appears to have progressed slightly.

1. David Albright, Sarah Burkhard, and John Hannah, Irans Natanz Tunnel Complex: Deeper, Larger than Expected, Institute for Science and International Security, January 13, 2022, https://isis-online.org/isis-reports/detail/irans-natanz-tunnel-complex-deeper-larger-than-expected/8

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Imagery Update: Iran Continues to Harden its New Natanz Tunnel Complex [1] - Institute for Science and International Security

Emphasizing the importance of the role and position of exclusiveexhibitions in introducing and recognizing the achievements, capabilities and quality of products of Iranian companies, Mehdi Safari said thatthe second exclusive exhibition of Iran and Kyrgyzstan is scheduled to be held on June 28-31, in Bishkek and is a great opportunity for capable Iranian companies to try to diversify their markets in the current special economic conditions.

Safari describedthe strengthening of trade and economic relations with Central Asian countries, including Kyrgyzstan, as one of the priorities of the Foreign Ministry's economic diplomacy.

The volume of trade between the Islamic Republic of Iran and Kyrgyzstan in the last Iranian year (started March 20, 2021), according to published statistics, reached about $ 80 million.Iran's exports to Kyrgyzstan reached $ 79 million this year, making it the fourth largest country in the Eurasian Economic Union.

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Iran to hold 2nd exclusive exhibition in Bishkek in late June - Mehr News Agency - English Version

Iranians adore a picnic. During the countrys most ancient festival, Nowruz, the Persian new year, they brandish baskets of food as they swarm into parks and gardens to celebrate Sizdah-bedar, the 13th and final day of the Nowruz celebrations and the coming of spring. In Britain, its only just getting warm enough to enjoy a khoresht stew or doogh, a yoghurt drink that tastes a little like Indian lassi. But venture out to Hyde Park and youll see groups of young and old Iranians sitting in the pale springtime sun.

The Persian picnic is generally a family affair. Pretty much every Iranian has fond memories of Nowruz meals; eating fragrant rice and meats with kindly aunts. These picnics are best enjoyed in one of Irans ancient Persian gardens (Bagh-e Irani), which first emerged during the Achaemenid Empire of Cyrus the Great. Even ignoring the mullahs absurd ban on alcohol, Iran is a dry country. Theres not a lot of water, so the Iranian idea of paradise is a verdant one. Lush green with plenty of water and its ornamental offspring: flowers. Images of gardens spread throughout Persian art and have remained lodged in our collective minds ever since Cyrus launched his empire in 550 bc.

The effect on Persian society has been huge. Iranians are always prepared for a picnic, says Roham Alvandi, a historian of Iran at the London School of Economics. On pretty much every road trip Ive ever taken, a picnic seems to materialise on the way. Ive been at airport gates waiting for a flight either to or from Iran and have seen an Iranian family suddenly produce a picnic with condiments and all the cutlery. Picnics are something really established in the culture, centred strongly around the family.

But what was once a family jolly has become, thanks to the oppressive Islamic Republic, something more political. Its not uncommon for families to eat on the graves of dead relatives, laying out blankets on top of memorial stones. But in recent years, Iranians have been taking their Nowruz picnics to the tomb of Cyrus the Great, widely regarded as the countrys greatest ruler. Cyrus is an avowedly Iranian hero who predates Islam by almost a millennium. Picnics at his tomb have become a way for people to embrace their Iranian rather than Islamic identity.

Since the Islamists took control of the country after the 1979 revolution, the regime has tried to engineer the reverse: they see Iranians as, above all else, Muslims. That tension between the Islamic and the Iranian has squatted like a toad on public life. The former head of the Revolutionary Courts, Ayatollah Sadeq Khalkhali, a sordid murderer known as the hanging judge, was always desperate to bulldoze the great Achaemenid city of Persepolis, believed by some to have been founded by Cyrus. Scratch a religious fanatic and youll almost invariably find a Philistine, too.

For a lot of people, picnics by the tomb of Cyrus are how they give the middle finger to the regime.Its tough for the regime to respond because Cyrus is a great icon, Alvandi explains. Its also hard to get too angry about a picnic without looking absurd. So the revolutionaries are stuck, watching happy Iranians munching Koobideh kebab in defiance of their austere leaders.

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The romance and rebellion of an Iranian picnic - The Spectator

DUBAI, April 21 (Reuters) - Iran will not abandon plans to avenge the 2020 U.S. killing of Quds Force Commander Qassem Soleimani, despite "regular offers" from Washington to lift sanctions and provide other concessions in return, a top Iranian official said on Thursday.

Over the last year, Iran and the United States have engaged in fitful, indirect talks in Vienna to revive a 2015 nuclear deal that then-President Donald Trump reneged on in 2018 and that Iran, in turn, began violating in 2019.

Under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), Iran agreed to limit its nuclear programme in return for relief from economic sanctions.

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While they appeared close to resurrecting the deal in March, talks stalled over last-minute Russian demands and whether Washington might drop Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which includes the Quds Force, from its Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list.

"The enemy keeps sending messages that if we give up on avenging Soleimani, they will give us some concessions or lift some sanctions," Revolutionary Guards' Navy Commander Alireza Tangsiri said.

"This is pure fantasy. The Supreme Leader has emphasized the need for revenge and the Revolutionary Guards' top commander has said that revenge is inevitable and that we will choose the time and place for it," he added.

Asked about the comments, a State Department spokesperson said if Iran wanted sanctions relief beyond the 2015 nuclear deal, it must address U.S. concerns beyond the pact.

While neither Tangsiri nor the U.S. spokesperson specified what they meant, they appeared to be alluding to Tehran's demand that Washington drop the IRGC from its FTO list.

"If Iran wants sanctions lifting that goes beyond the JCPOA, they will need to address concerns of ours beyond the JCPOA," the U.S. spokesperson said. "Conversely, if they do not want to use these talks to resolve other bilateral issues beyond the JCPOA, then we are confident that we can very quickly reach an understanding on the JCPOA and begin reimplementing the deal."

"Iran needs to make a decision," the spokesperson added.

The Quds Force is the foreign espionage and paramilitary arm of the IRGC that controls its allied militia abroad. The Trump administration put the IRGC on the State Department's FTO list in 2019, the first time Washington formally labelled another nations military a terrorist group.

"Under any return to the JCPOA, the United States would retain and aggressively use our powerful tools to address Irans destabilising activities and its support for terrorism and terrorist proxies, and especially to counter the IRGC," the State Department spokesperson said.

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Reporting by Dubai Newsroom and by Arshad Mohammed in Saint Paul, Minn.; editing by Grant McCool

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Iran refuses to abandon avenging Soleimani despite U.S. offers - Reuters

No filmmaker in Iran is immune to the pressures of censorship. Movies made in the country must gain approval from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance not only for distribution purposes but for shooting permits as well. For directors and producers with stories that violate government standards say, a scene where a woman removes her traditional headscarf, or another violation of Islamic law the options for maintaining creative freedom are simple: Submit a script with the offending scenes removed, then shoot them anyway. Or hit the road.

Panah Panahi took the second option for his acclaimed debut, but Hit the Road is hardly an anomaly. In a sense the car becomes a second house for us Iranians, Panahi said in a phone interview with IndieWire ahead of his movies U.S. release. There is a level of security inside the car. Thats why you see so many road films.

Still, youve never seen a road film quite like Hit the Road. A bittersweet family drama and thrilling escape story all at once, the movie follows a boisterous family as they make their way to the countrys borders in northwestern Iran under mystery purposes. The whole movie takes place in and around a single vehicle: Farid (Amir Simiar) is a 20-year-old man making his way out of Iran with the help of his doting parents (Hassan Madjooni and Pantea Panahiha) while his six-year-old younger brother causes trouble from the backseat. The movie careens from tragic arguments to slapstick comedy, and even finds room for a mystical dream sequence as the group makes its way to a murky destination.

Panahis own father, the revered filmmaker Jafar Panahi, took advantage of the vehicle in this fashion for his wistful 2015 comedy Taxi, which the director shot within the confines of a cab as he drove around Tehran. The movie, produced even as the older Panahi had been banned from filmmaking by the Iranian government, won the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival that year. For the younger Panahi, growing up in his fathers shadow compelled him to make movies with his own distinctive sensibilities even as he gleaned some practical tools for creating unfiltered art in a society that demands compromise.

I have no choice but to make the films in Iran because I know these people better than I know people anywhere else, Panahi said. We were able to make this in peace. We tried to not make headlines with the film so they werent sensitive about it. First you make the film, then you think about the issues that exist for it.

Ultimately, Hit the Road didnt pass muster for Iranian censors, but it didnt need a domestic release to generate validation for the young filmmaker. The movie was a hit with audiences and critics at Directors Fortnight out of the Cannes Film Festival last year, and went on to gain further appreciation on the fall circuit. All of that came after censors rejected the screenplay for Hit the Road outright for obvious reasons: It depicts the very real struggle that many Iranians face when theyve been accused of violating the countrys religious standards.

This couldnt have been more inspired by a real incident, Panahi said. Most of my friends have immigrated out of the country, and two or three of them have immigrated illegally. They were the ones who actually mapped out for me how this was done.

Sipa USA via AP

While Iranian cinema has been revered for years due to the likes of Jafar Panahi, the late Abbas Kiarostami, and Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi, Panahi is among the spate of younger filmmakers trying to sort through the challenges of making movies there through the secretive processes necessary to get the job done. Last years Berlin-premiering drama Ballad of a White Cow, from co-directors Behtash Sanaeeha and Maryam Moqadam, was banned in the country due to a plot that was critical of the countrys execution laws. The plot finds the widow of man who was wrongly convicted fighting for justice after his exoneration, only to become enmeshed with the very judge who sentenced her husband to death.

Sanaeeha told IndieWire that while a version of the script made it past the seven-member committee necessary to gain permission for a shooting permit, the final cut screened for another committee that barred it from distribution. This second permission is harder than the first, Sanaeeha said. It is difficult thing to force. What is clear is that we are not willing to have our films censored on a large scale, nor are we prepared to screen our films at any price.

In February, the filmmaking pair won the Eurimages Co-production Development Award at the Berlinale to support production of their next project, My Favorite Cake, which centers on a middle-aged woman in Iran. They are in the process of assembling additional support overseas, while still battling with censors to make the movie in the country. Our stubbornness and constant bickering will continue, since we strongly believe that the majority of our audience is Iranian, and it is their right to see our film at a cinema, Sanaeeha said. All our humility and sacrifice is towards getting permission to screen our film.

But other filmmakers have settled with alternate approaches. For example, the upcoming thriller Holy Spider, which premieres in competition at Cannes next month, was shot in Jordan as a stand-in for the city of Mashhad due to the challenges involved in gaining permits for its controversial subject matter. (The cast, however, is entirely Iranian.) While promoting his last film Border at the Telluride Film Festival, Abbasi said he was hoping to provide a contrast to Western impressions of Irans religious extremism. You just want to let people know that not all Iranians are like that, he said. Were people, you know?

Hit the Road is now in theaters in New York from Kino Lorber. It opens in Los Angeles on May 6.

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Iran Censors Its Most Exciting Filmmakers, but They Make Great Movies Anyway - IndieWire