IRGC Announces Plans to Unveil New Underground Missile Facility

Original report

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps plans to unveil a new underground missile facility and other military developments, its spokesman Hossein Mohebbi announced at a Saturday news conference marking IRGC Aerospace Force Week. He gave no exact unveiling date, location or technical specifications for the facility. Mohebbi said Iran had moved missile and drone production underground, distinguishing manufacturing sites from underground missile-storage complexes. He claimed that geographically dispersed facilities and flexible production arrangements would allow manufacturing to continue during bombardment. These were Iranian assertions about production capacity and survivability, rather than independently established findings about the new facility. Mohebbi also said previously undisclosed military capabilities could be used if fighting resumed, without identifying them or explaining how they would work. “If circumstances warrant it, we may unveil some of those surprises,” he said. He separately claimed that Iran exported missiles, drones and air-defense equipment, but did not identify recipient countries. His remarks distinguished a planned public unveiling from the conditional use of unspecified capabilities in another round of fighting. Israel has targeted Iran’s missile-manufacturing infrastructure. On March 8, the IDF said it had struck production sites around Parchin and Shahrud during the preceding week, including infrastructure used for warhead explosives and missile-engine propellant. The IDF said it had tracked efforts to restore and expand production after earlier strikes. That account does not establish the location or condition of the facility Mohebbi now says will be unveiled.