High-resolution MAXAR Technologies satellite imagery taken on July 3 and August 19, 2025, of the Mojdeh (also known as Lavisan 2) site obtained by the Institute shows a significant effort by Iran to rapidly demolish damaged or destroyed buildings, likely to sanitize any incriminating nuclear weapons research and development activities.  The IAEA established a direct connection between Iran’s Amad Plan and the Mojdeh site but was never able to visit the site or interview key associated personnel. 

Background

The Mojdeh site is next to Malek Ashtar University and was the headquarters of the follow-on organization to the Amad Plan, which had been shut down in 2003.  The successor organization, known initially by its acronym, SADAT, was  a smaller, more camouflaged nuclear weapons program.  This organization evolved, eventually being subsumed in about 2011 by the SPND, which took over the campus as its initial headquarters.  This campus was also the location of the Modern Defense Readiness Test Center, the Institute of Applied Physics, and later SPND’s Shahid Karimi Group.  Shahid Karimi Group was identified by the U.S. Treasury as an entity working on missiles and explosives projects connected to SPND.  Figure 1 shows a Google Earth image of the site taken several months before the attack by Israel. 

Cleanup Activities 

Israel targeted the Mojdeh site twice in airstrikes conducted during the 12 day war.  The first airstrike targeted several buildings, including a building suspected to be associated with the Shahid Karimi Specialized Group and a workshop annex connected to the Institute for Applied Physics according to various open sources.  The second round of airstrikes destroyed the Institute for Applied Physics building, caused additional damage to a nearby security building, and destroyed an onsite warehouse/workshop.  The fact that Israel chose to strike this site twice demonstrates its importance. 

A June 20, 2025, image shows the aftermath of the second strike.  Several buildings can be seen either completely destroyed or highly damaged from the attack, with debris strewn across the complex (see Figure 2).  An image from July 3, 2025, shows the beginning of cleanup operations. Debris is starting to be cleaned up and removed from the site (see Figure 3).  In this image, the remains of the highly damaged or destroyed buildings are still present.  By August 19, 2025, the Institute for Applied Physics building and its attached workshop have been completely razed and cleared (see Figure 4).  The building suspected to house Shahid Karimi Specialized Group had also been raised and cleared.  Clearing efforts had not yet commenced at the damaged security building or the destroyed warehouse/workshop.  

The rapid work by Iran to quickly demolish and clear the rubble of these important buildings appears to be an effort to sanitize the site and limit the availability of any possible future inspection from obtaining evidence of undeclared nuclear and nuclear-weapons related research and development activities that may have occurred there.  Iran has previously sanitized sites to stonewall IAEA inspectors and hide its past nuclear weapons development work.  

 

 

Figure 1.  A Google Earth image of the Mojdeh Site taken on March 13, 2025, several months before the attack by Israel. 

 

Figure 2.  A June 20, 2025, MAXAR Technologies image of the Mojdeh site. 

Figure 3.  A July 3, 2025, MAXAR Technologies image of the Mojdeh site. Cleanup operations have commenced. 

Figure 4.  An August 19, 2025, MAXAR Technologies image of the Mojdeh site.  Several buildings have been razed and cleared.