Just days after state media reported that Iran had test-fired new generation long-range ballistic missiles, the country broadcast rare images of a missile facility buried deep underground.
It was an uncharacteristic moment of openness on Wednesday, when Iran broadcast these pictures from The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force.
According to CNN reports, they show a tunnel dug some 1,640 feet under a mountain.
A senior general told state media that “Iran is completely overhauling its missile technology, replacing the current stockpile with newer weapons.”
Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh said, “As of next year, a new and advanced generation of long-range liquid and solid fuel missiles will replace the current products…..the missiles in various ranges are mounted on the launchers in all bases and (are) ready to be launched.”
The underground facility, shown on TV this week, was only one of “numerous missile bases” scattered across the country, according to Hajizadeh. He stated earlier this month, that “all U.S. military bases” in the Middle East were within range of Iranian missiles.
Meantime, a US administration official told CNN, the weekend test “likely violated” a U.N. Security Council resolution, which stipulates that Iran “cannot engage in any activities related to ballistic missiles.”
However, The U.S. official emphasized that the test is not in violation of the nuclear agreement reached several months ago between Iran, the United States and five other world powers.
The revelation of this underground base comes amid the well-publicized Iranian nuclear deal, which allows international sanctions on Iran to be lifted in return for restrictions on its nuclear program.
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