Iran Shows Off Underground ‘Missile City’

In a new video released by state media, two Iranian military leaders responsible for the country’s weapons programs are seen riding through a long, weapons-packed tunnel. Set to ominous music, the 85-second video was published amid growing regional tensions and infers that Iran can withstand an attack and deliver a response. But the video that is made to show off Iranian standoff attack capabilities also highlights a major vulnerability.

As they drive through the facility, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, chief of staff of Iran’s Armed Forces and Amir Ali Hajizadeh, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force (IRGC-AF) commander, show off some of Iran’s most advanced missiles and rockets. There are Kheybar Shekans, Ghadr-Hs, Sejjils, and Haj Qassems, as well as the Paveh Land Attack Cruise Missiles. Iran used several of these weapons in an attack on Israel last fall.

As for that aforementioned glaring vulnerability, the munitions are stored out in the open in long continuous tunnels and large caverns with no, or at least limited, blast doors or separated revetments. That could result in devastating consequences should the facility be breached in an attack. The lack of these protective measures could lead to an absolutely massive chain reaction of secondary explosions. This is an interesting revelation because other Iranian underground weapons caverns, especially those that can launch missiles through apertures in the surface, do appear to have these measures, as least to some degree.

The video was released amid threats from U.S. President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, Trump issued a two-month deadline to Tehran to reach a new nuclear deal, Axios reported. In 2018, Trump pulled out of an earlier nuclear weapons deal signed by former President Barack Obama. Trump also intimated that Iran could be in the crosshairs of an ongoing campaign against the Houthi rebels because Iran is their main sponsor.

As we noted earlier today, the U.S. is building up forces in the Middle East region. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the U.S. Navy’s USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group. There it will join the USS Harry S. Truman‘s carrier strike group, whose deployment to the Middle East Hegseth just extended. There are also indications that a dozen F-35s from Hill Air Force Base recently arrived in the region.

In addition, a significant force of B-2 Spirit stealth bombers appears to be headed to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia. Satellite imagery shows at least three C-17 cargo planes and 10 aerial refueling tankers forward-deployed in the last 48 hours to the highly strategic British territory, which has been used as a staging point for U.S. strikes in the Middle East on multiple occasions in the past. The B-2 has the unique capability to strike fortified underground compounds unlike any other conventional weapon. These kinds of underground weapons facilities would be among their top targets should a war with the U.S. kick off and the U.S. recently messaged this reality to Iran.

“First and foremost, the video was almost certainly released as part of Iran’s broader deterrence messaging,” Mohammed al-Basha, founder of the Basha Report, a U.S.-based risk advisory told The War Zone. “The video is now circulating widely across pro–Axis of Resistance Telegram channels and WhatsApp groups, further amplifying Iran’s strategic signaling.”

The video is Iran’s latest showcasing of its underground facilities.

In November 2020, video and images emerged showing for the first time an underground Iranian ballistic missile facility in which groups of missiles ready to fire are moved around massive tunnels using an automated railway-type system. The vertically-stowed missile “magazine” appears to bring groups of missiles into position for rapid, consecutive launching from the cavernous subterranean bunker.

Three years later, Iran unveiled a cavernous facility apparently being used to protect combat aircraft. The imagery released showed F-4D/E Phantom IIs that continue to make up a significant portion of its air power. You can see that facility in the following video.

Though these facilities are designed to withstand most aerial attacks, they are vulnerable in other ways. Last September, Israel carried out a number of operations showing how these facilities can be attacked.

Israel destroyed a secretive highly-fortified underground missile production facility in northwest Syria in an attack that leveraged inserting special operations forces by helicopter to retrieve equipment and documents, before demolishing the facility. Not only did the raid strike at the heart of the Iranian military presence in Syria, but it also sent a clear message to Tehran that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) can and will attack deep underground complexes with ground troops that it otherwise cannot destroy from the air.

A few weeks later, the Israeli Air Force dropped dozens of bunker-buster bombs on the underground command center of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut. He was killed in that raid, further driving home the point that Iran’s subterranean facilities are susceptible.

While there is no doubt that Iran has many standoff weapons and that they can be secured in subterranean complexes, in this case, it appears that even a single weapon penetrating its hardened exterior by any means could have absolutely catastrophic results.

Contact the author: [email protected]