Underground missile bases Missile Cities | |
---|---|
پایگاه های موشکی زیرزمینی ایران | |
Unknown, multiple locations in Iran | |
Type | Missile bases |
Height | zero, 500 m deep |
Site information | |
Operator | IRGC Aerospace Force |
According to Iranian authorities, Iranian underground missile bases or silos (Persian: پایگاه های موشکی زیرزمینی ایران), also known as the Missile Cities (Persian: شهرهای موشکی) exist in all provinces and cities of Iran.[1][2][3] The bases contain road-mobile transporter erector launcher trucks, along with other hardware, and, due to the lack of adequate ventilation, could not be as far underground as claimed by Iranian sources.[citation needed] A video from one of the missile sites was released for the first time on 14 October 2015 by Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, commander of Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.[4] This was just a few days after news of the testing of a new-generation medium-range ballistic missile, the Emad, was broadcast by the state media of Iran.[5] Amir Ali Hajizadeh stated that: "Iranian missiles of varying ranges are ready to be launched from underground bases once Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei orders to do so," adding that "Iran created missile bases in all the provinces and cities throughout the country at a depth of 500 meters."[2]
Bases were again displayed on TV on January 5, 2016, amid heightened tensions with Saudi Arabia following the execution of Shi`ìte cleric Nimr al-Nimr.[6] The second-in-command of the Revolutionary Guards boasted that Iran's depots and underground facilities were so full that it didn't know where to store new missiles.[7]
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