Iran is building four new structures surrounded by high earth berms for blast deflection at Parchin military complex around 30 kilometers (19 miles) southeast of Tehran, intelligence consultancy firm The Intel Lab reported on Saturday.

Based on satellite images, the firm has detected "extensive" construction work at Parchin Plan 6 which it says is probably related to Iran's ballistic missile program. "It cannot be ruled out that a part of it could be contributing to other activities restricted or monitored by the JCPOA," the report said. The image shows four 12x12 meter concrete structures with concrete slab foundations in various stages of construction and high earth berms (steep walls made of compacted earth) between them for blast deflection as a launchpad completed in February 2020, High bay buildings surrounded by high blast walls completed in November 2020.

"Parchin complex is involved in R&D, production of chemical weapons, laser technology for Uranium Enrichment, as well as high-explosive testing for nuclear weapons," the report said.

Parchin military complex is closely linked with the nearby Khojir missile production complex, which is also part of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group of the defense ministry. The Khojir complex produces both liquid propellant and solid propellants for missiles.

On June 26, 2020 a blast at the Khojir facility lit up the early morning sky in the capital Tehran for several seconds. Iranian officials blamed the explosion on a faulty gas storage tank and denied any human casualties. But many suspected some sort of explosion or act of sabotage, as there were similar incidents at many Iranian military and industrial sites in mid-2020.

Satellite images that emerged later revealed signs of a vast burnt are close to the ammunition facility of the compound and a cruise missile factory in the base. Several Khojir military base personnel and eyewitnesses who spoke to Iran International TV at the time also confirmed these.

On July 2, 2020 there was a major explosion at Natanz enrichment facility which Iranian officials later admitted had damaged the advanced centrifuge manufacturing plant and that the impact was big enough that the equipment was no longer usable followed by yet another incident at the Natanz facility last Sunday [April 11].

There has been wide speculation about Israel's involvement in the explosion at Khojir and Natanz as well as explosions and fires in several industrial plants and power generation and distribution hubs between July and November 2020 but in the latest case Iranian officials have directly pointed fingers at Israel and even released a photo and the name of the alleged saboteur.

The Parchin complex is nestled among mountains in vast lands belonging to the ministry of defense.