Institute for Science and International Security: Restrictions on the entrances to the Jabal Al-Ax facility reinforce doubts about it

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The Institute for Science and International Security said that continued restrictions on access to the Mount Kuleng Ghazla facility, known as “Axe Mountain,” south of Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility, reinforces speculation that the site may hold valuable nuclear equipment or materials.

The institute explained, in a report published on October 16, 2026, based on satellite images taken on October 7, that the eastern entrances to the tunnels are still blocked by dirt, while dirt obstacles continue to limit access to the western entrances, without fundamental changes compared to the previous images.

The Institute considered that the continuation of these restrictions, after they were imposed during the past months, is consistent with the presence of valuable equipment or materials inside the facility, noting that the site does not show clear indications of the resumption of operational activity or the implementation of large-scale construction work during the period covered by the images.

These estimates come in light of previous reports that talked about the possibility of transporting centrifuges and related components to the facility.

A Wall Street Journal report in July 2026 cited Israeli intelligence information that Iran had moved centrifuges to the site. However, this story has not been independently confirmed by available satellite images.

The importance of the Jabal Al Ax facility is due to its underground location and the nature of the excavation and fortification work it has witnessed over the past years.

Iran had begun construction of the facility after the sabotage that targeted the centrifuge assembly facility in Natanz in 2020, while construction work and strengthening of tunnel entrances raised speculation about its possible use to protect sensitive nuclear equipment.

However, satellite images, although they show that the entrances are still closed and access to them is restricted, do not reveal the contents of the tunnels, nor do they prove the presence of enriched uranium inside them or the start of enrichment operations at the site.

This comes at a time when the International Atomic Energy Agency's ability to verify Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium and follow up on some facilities affected by military attacks remains a matter of dispute.

Continued access restrictions make it more difficult to independently verify the nature of activities and materials located at Iranian nuclear sites.

Thus, the continued closure of the entrances to Jabal Al-Ax reinforces doubts about the possible presence of important nuclear equipment or materials inside the facility, but it does not constitute conclusive evidence of the presence of enriched uranium there or its current use in enrichment operations.