Iran unveiled a new underground missile facility on Friday, making it clear its military is far from defeated despite Israel’s destruction of most of the country’s air defense systems last year.
Iranian media did not report the location of the new missile storage center.
The unveiling ceremony was attended by Major General Hossein Salami, Commander-in-Chief of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), and Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Force, according to the IRGC-linked Tasnim News Agency.
Iran unveils its new underground missile town
Follow us on Telegram: https://t.co/B3zXG73Jym pic.twitter.com/U64sJnMisZ
— Press TV ? (@PressTV) January 11, 2025
The facility, described as a “missile city,” houses a range of liquid fuel-driven missiles, including the Emad, Qadr and Qiam types.
A video of the ceremony showed a “small fraction” of the site, according to the report, which said approximately 90 percent of the facility remained “undisclosed.”
Officials at the unveiling ceremony said Iran is continuing to expand its missile arsenal, regardless of sanctions aimed at curbing Tehran’s efforts.
“The enemy thought our production capabilities had been halted, but our missile power is growing daily,” Salami said.
“In terms of quantity, quality, capability, and design, our missiles are witnessing significant growth and enhancement. This progress means that the IRGC Aerospace Force will soon unveil new missiles and bases,” he added.
In his remarks, the IRGC chief praised the forces involved in the operations “True Promise I” and “True Promise II” that Iran carried out against the State of Israel in April and October 2024.
Iran has acquired the technology to hit targets “at a distance of thousands of kilometers away” with the use of artificial intelligence, Salami claimed, adding that Iran has also developed the capability of “controlling a major part of the world’s economy and energy.”
Nearly all of the missiles and drones fired at Israel in 2024 were intercepted by the IDF Aerial Defense Array, US military personnel and other coalition partners.
US Sanctions IRGC Missile Producers
Last month (Dec. 18, 2024) the United States imposed sanctions on one person and two Iran-based entities that support the proliferation of Iran’s ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs/drones).
Sanctions were imposed on IRGC Aerospace Force Deputy Commander Brigadier General Sayyed Hossein Majid Mousavi Eftekhari, the Sanat Danesh Rahpuyan Aflak Company Ltd. (SDRA) and its representative abroad, the Switzerland-based Illumove SA.
SDRA consults, designs, manufactures, and supplies navigation, automation, and instrumentation systems, including those for use in cruise and ballistic missiles, UAVs, unmanned underwater vehicles, and unmanned surface vessels, the US Treasury Dept. said in its announcement.
The company is also involved in Iranian ballistic research and development and manages Iran’s product of the Shahed-series combat drones.
“The United States remains concerned about Iran’s proliferation of weapons in the region and globally,” State Department spokesperson Matt Miller said in a statement.
He added that the sanctions are a part of the “ongoing efforts to disrupt Iran’s dangerous proliferation of armed UAVs and ballistic missiles, which Iran employs in its efforts to destabilize the Middle East and beyond, and to impose costs on any intermediaries that support Iran in its proliferation activities.”
