Illustration of a desert mountain with tunnel entrances and earth berms, depicting Iran fortifying nuclear sites.

Iran Fortifying Nuclear Sites as Lawmaker Raises Dimona Threat

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Reports of Iran fortifying nuclear sites and preparing its population for a possible return to large-scale fighting with the United States surfaced on Tuesday, Oct. 13, in The Wall Street Journal. The same day, an Iranian lawmaker said Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility could be targeted if Iran is bombed again, adding to a week of escalating warnings from Tehran.

The reports come as President Donald Trump has said he will not order an attack on Iran before the Nov. 3 U.S. midterm elections, while U.S. officials say the military is preparing options for further strikes.

Iran fortifying nuclear sites: what satellite images show

According to the Journal, as summarized by Iran International and The Times of Israel, satellite imagery analyzed by the Institute for Science and International Security shows new passive defenses, including dirt barriers, around the Natanz enrichment complex and the Pickaxe Mountain site nearby. The newspaper also reported work to strengthen border positions.

The Journal said Iran has used the lull in major direct fighting to rebuild missile and drone production lines and restock its arsenal. Iranian officials have said publicly that airports, ports and power plants are being prepared to operate under wartime conditions.

At home, state media have broadcast pro-government rallies and military-style training. Billboards in Tehran have advertised civilian courses on shoulder-fired anti-aircraft weapons and sniper rifles, and paramilitary members have been sent to kindergartens to read war stories to children, according to the report.

The Dimona threat and other warnings

Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said on Tuesday: “If Iran is bombed, there is the possibility of a reciprocal response and targeting the Dimona facilities in Israel,” Iran International reported. Dimona, formally the Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center, is in southern Israel and houses a nuclear reactor.

The Journal reported, citing people familiar with the warnings, that some Iranian officials have privately suggested Iranian forces could cross into neighboring countries if the United States launches new strikes. The newspaper did not name the officials or the countries. It also reported that Iran told Arab officials Saudi oil facilities could be hit in a renewed conflict, and told mediators it could target U.S. forces more aggressively, including by trying to sink American warships in the region.

Separately, Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said on state-owned Press TV on Sunday that Tehran could target the United Arab Emirates, along with data centers and undersea internet cables in the Gulf. Hardline outlets, including Kayhan and the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency, endorsed those threats. One Iranian analyst told Iran International that such attacks would mainly hurt regional networks rather than the global internet. Background on the Revolutionary Guards is in our explainer on the IRGC and its militant network.

U.S. military moves and the midterm timeline

Washington is also preparing for the possibility of renewed fighting, the Journal reported. A third aircraft carrier strike group and another Marine expeditionary unit are heading toward the Middle East, and the Pentagon is weighing additional air-defense equipment and munitions for regional bases. We reported earlier on the third U.S. aircraft carrier moving toward Iran.

Trump’s public pledge on timing, covered in our report on his promise of no Iran strike before the midterm vote, has put a spotlight on the weeks after Nov. 3. Iranian missiles came close to U.S. warships during attacks in September, according to the Journal.

Shipping and diplomacy

Pressure at sea is already heavy. UK Maritime Trade Operations warnings listed 12 attacks on commercial vessels in and around the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf between Oct. 5 and Oct. 11, including six vessels struck on Oct. 11 alone, Iran International reported. The Joint Maritime Information Center kept the Hormuz threat level at “severe,” its second-highest rating.

Diplomacy has not closed the gap. Rezaei said on X on Sunday that the United States had accepted some of Iran’s seven conditions but that Tehran considered Washington’s response insufficient. “Iran’s diplomacy has changed, and we will not return to the previous situation,” he wrote.

What to watch

The key indicators over the next three weeks are new satellite imagery of Iranian nuclear and missile sites, further U.S. deployments to the region, the pace of tanker attacks near Hormuz, and whether talks through mediators produce any agreed text. Iran’s government has not publicly confirmed the specific preparations described by the Journal.

Sources