Is Iran burying its nuclear facilities with soil amid US talks? Here's what expert claims

As the second round of US-Iran talks on Tehran's nuclear programme concluded on Tuesday (Feb 17), nonproliferation expert David Albright claimed that the Islamic Republic has rapidly covered large sections of the new Taleghan 2 facility at the Parchin military complex with soil over the past two to three weeks.

“Once the concrete sarcophagus around the facility was hardened, Iran did not hesitate to move soil over large parts of the new facility. More soil is available, and the facility may soon become a fully unrecognisable bunker, providing significant protection from aerial strikes,” Albright wrote on X while sharing images from the site.

‘In what language...’

Meanwhile, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that Tehran does not want nuclear weapons. “In what language should we say we don’t want nuclear weapons? We are ready for any kind of verification in this regard," he said. “Based on the fatwa of the Supreme Leader, from an ideological standpoint we are absolutely not pursuing nuclear weapons, and however they wish to verify it, we are prepared,” he added.

Iran-US talks

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmaeil Baghaee, told the Iranian media that the meeting began in Geneva with representatives from both nations, with Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi being the mediator. He said that the main focus of the talks was nuclear-related issues.

Meanwhile, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Tehran was seeking to “achieve a fair and equitable deal”. Moreover, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that the US President Donald Trump recently mentioned that the US has not been able to destroy Iran for the last 47 years. “He has complained to his own people. This is a good confession. You will not be able to do this either," he added.