Did you ever wonder what Iran was up to during the several years that they were stringing Joe Biden along in his efforts to restart Obama’s Iran nuclear deal? Thanks to some recent satellite data, we probably have a pretty good idea now. They’ve been digging massive tunnels under a mountain range near the Natanz nuclear site. And if the analysts who studied the images are correct, this one could be too deep for us (or Israel) to reach even if we used a nuclear bomb on it. (Associated Press)

Near a peak of the Zagros Mountains in central Iran, workers are building a nuclear facility so deep in the earth that it is likely beyond the range of a last-ditch U.S. weapon designed to destroy such sites, according to experts and satellite imagery analyzed by The Associated Press.

The photos and videos from Planet Labs PBC show Iran has been digging tunnels in the mountain near the Natanz nuclear site, which has come under repeated sabotage attacks amid Tehran’s standoff with the West over its atomic program.

Combined with the ability to produce weapons-grade fuel, the AP describes this development as “complicating” the west’s efforts to prevent Tehran from having a nuclear bomb. (That’s putting it mildly, eh?) Kelsey Davenport of the Arms Control Association is quoted in the article as saying that the completion of these tunnels “would be a nightmare.”

The IAEA believes that Iran either already has or will shortly have enough enriched uranium for “several bombs.” The current construction site is surrounded by anti-aircraft batteries and large detachments of the Revolutionary Guard. Tehran is still claiming they are engaged in “peaceful” development under the guidelines of the IAEA, but it certainly looks like a military installation now.

A project like this doesn’t just spring up overnight. They had to have been working on it for a couple of years at least. So what can we take from that? Clearly, the United States poured tremendous effort over the past couple of years trying to coax Iran back to the bargaining table. And all that time, they were working on building a nuke-proof underground complex to finish their work. If either the United States or Israel is going to stop this before it’s too late, the clock is ticking.

Unfortunately, it appears that we were played for fools yet again. Iran may be feeling that their own time is running out and rushing to get over the finish line. If Donald Trump is somehow sworn back into office in 2025, they will be in a panic because Trump regularly showed that he was unpredictable and if he felt the need to blow their nuclear facility to kingdom come, he wouldn’t hesitate to do it or ask the UN for permission. He’d just pull the trigger. Unfortunately, the world is growing even more dangerous at an alarming pace and our list of allies is growing thin.