Satellite imagery from November points to major new construction and repair work near Iranian missile facilities, according to analysts who reviewed the photographs.

Digging and fresh buildings are visible at the Garmdareh military base in Karaj near Tehran and at the Shahroud base in the north. A British intelligence firm, MAIAR, examined the pictures and described the activity as significant. Separate imagery suggests repair work at at least a dozen other military sites, including missile complexes and air bases.

At Kermanshah in western Iran, near the Iraqi border, new roofs appear on buildings previously destroyed. At the Parchin complex east of the capital, damaged structures and debris have been cleared. Analysts also say substantial work has been finished at the Taleghan 2 facility inside Parchin, with damaged buildings levelled and an underground bunker reinforced with concrete after earlier attacks.

Excavation near Shahroud may relate to missile production, a former CIA analyst focused on Iran told reviewers. Because the nearby air base has been struck repeatedly in recent years, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps is likely seeking ways to shift production underground. A MAIAR analyst said Iran has a pattern of moving infrastructure below ground to shield it from further strikes. Defence analysts note that underground sites also make it harder for outside observers to judge how much capacity remains intact.

At Karaj, vehicles appear in the imagery and improvements seem under way at the nearby air base. One research analyst described what looks like a new portal for an underground facility. An intelligence firm analyst argued the work is unlikely to be staged merely to deceive foreign agencies, calling such a project costly for little gain.

The pictures land after White House claims that US and Israeli strikes heavily depleted Iranian forces, including Pentagon assertions that much of Iran's drone, ballistic missile and naval industrial base was destroyed. Tehran insists it still holds large missile stockpiles, and state television this week aired footage it said showed dozens of missiles at the entrance to an underground facility in southern Iran.

Speculation has grown that Washington could resume attacks after this week's midterms, though Vice President JD Vance linked the war's unpopularity with voters to the Republicans' weak showing and possible loss of Senate control.