The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) released the photos Tuesday. They were taken by DigitalGlobe, one of the commercial satellites that circle the earth taking pictures.
The building in question is suspected of being a containment structure, a structure in which an explosion can be set off and contained within the walls. Critics suspect that Iran conducted experiments on a trigger for a nuclear weapon there. The triggers for nuclear weapons contain only conventional explosives.
The IAEA has been insisting on access to the building to see what it has been used for. In talks in January, Iran reportedly said it would think about giving the IAEA access. In a March meeting, Iran denied access. That set off much criticism of Iran at the next IAEA Board of Governors meeting.
An Iranian team is coming to the IAEA in Vienna next week, May 14-15, and the IAEA has made clear that scheduling a visit to Parchin is at the top of its agenda
The key photo is dated April 9 and shows several unidentifiable items lined up on one side of the building. It also shows what appears to be a large stream of water coming from the building and flowing to and over a nearby road.
ISIS said, “The stream of water that appears to emanate from the building raises concerns that Iran may have been washing inside the building, or perhaps washing the items outside the building.”
ISIS also released photos taken earlier that show no activity at all around the building.
Iran has been accused of cleansing two other sites before giving the IAEA access to them, one in the Lavizan-Shian section of Tehran, at which all buildings were razed and a park constructed in their place, and the other at a factory in Tehran that had been freshly painted when the IAEA arrived. The IAEA still found traces of radioactivity at that site.
A few days before ISIS released the photos, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano told Reuters he wants his inspectors to visit Parchin “rather sooner than later” and mentioned that he was concerned about some “activities” at the site.