Iran
IranISTOCK

Critics of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and defenders of the Iran nuclear deal stated that there was nothing new in his presentation of documents seized from the Iranian nuclear archives on Monday. They acknowledged that while Netanyahu had proven that Iran's leaders had lied about their nuclear ambitions or lack thereof, he had not proven that Iran was in violation of the 2015 agreement.

However, such proof may now be available.

Satellite photographs published by the Israeli company ImageSat Thursday evening show continued construction and development at the Fordow nuclear enrichment facility in Iran.

Fordow was a secret underground uranium enrichment facility until 2009, when Iran revealed its existence. It contained up to 3,000 centrifuges. The facilityis under UN monitoring according to the Iran nuclear deal.

Under the 2015 nuclear deal, two thirds of the centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium for use in nuclear weapons, were removed from the Fordow facility, along with all nuclear material. All nuclear related work is banned at Fordow for at least 15 years.

However, photographs taken on April 19 by the Israeli satellite Eros B show "exceptional activity" taking place at Fordow. A large number of cars and buses were seen outside the facility and new buildings were seen under construction.

In addition, the entrance gate leading to the tunnels of the enrichment site was left open for an unusually long period of time.

According to ImageSat, Iran may be positioning the Fordow facility as a "bargaining chip" in case US President Donald Trump decides to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement, and may be preparing to reactivate the facility on or following May 12, the deadline for the president's decision.

The images were taken one day before Prime Minister Netanyahu revealed that Israeli intelligence forces had retrieved over 100,000 documents and files related to Iran's nuclear program from a secret archive in Tehran.

"The Iran [nuclear] deal is based on lies. It is based on Iranian lies and Iranian deception," Netanyahu said.