In footage filmed in an undisclosed location, Iran unveiled a secret underground missile base on state TV this week, showing off medium- and long-range ballistic missiles. In the pictures, members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are seen with an assortment of Shahab missiles, capable of reaching a variety of targets in the Middle East. The station aired footage of long tunnels with ready-to-fire missiles on the back of trucks. The broadcast said the facility is one of hundreds of underground missile bases around the country. It didn’t disclose the location but said it was 500 meters (1,600 feet) underground. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Guard’s aerospace branch, boasted that the facility is the “tip of the iceberg” of the Guard’s military might. The missiles “are stationed and ready under the high mountains in all the country’s provinces and cities,” he said. The footage also shows commanders saluting before some sort of shrine and stepping on American and Israeli flags painted onto the ground.
The broadcast appeared aimed at showing that the Guard will continue its missile program despite UN Security Council resolutions and despite Iran’s nuclear deal with the West. Days earlier, Iran said it successfully test-fired a new long-range surface-to-surface missile. On Monday, a US official said Iran over the weekend “likely” violated a UN Security Council resolution which prohibits the Islamic Republic from carrying out any military activity related to the use of ballistic missiles. Based on information gathered by the White House so far, the Iranian regime appeared to have violated the international body’s Resolution 1929 when it recently conducted testing on a new, long-range, surface-to-surface ballistic missile, the official told US news outlet CNN. Nevertheless, the US believes the Islamic Republic’s illegal activity does not breach the terms of a nuclear accord between Iran, the US and five other major world powers. The official indicated that the July agreement did not place restrictions on Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, as it was aimed at blocking the regime from acquiring nuclear weapons. On Sunday, Iran said it had successfully tested a new domestically produced long-range missile, claiming the weapon was the first of its kind that could be guided all the way to targets.
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