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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Unveil Two Missile, Drone Bases

Drones at the new base. (Tasnim)
Drones at the new base. (Tasnim)
    London, Tehran - Asharq Al-Awsat
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Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Unveil Two Missile, Drone Bases

Drones at the new base. (Tasnim)
Drones at the new base. (Tasnim)

Iran's Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) unveiled two new missile and drone tunnel bases, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

“The two underground missile bases house ground-to-ground missile systems with advanced equipment, as well as attack drones penetrating the enemy's radar and defense networks,” said state media.

The Tasnim news agency reported that IRGC Commander Major General Hossein Salami and IRGC commander of Aerospace Force, Brigadier General Amir-Ali Hajizadeh attended the inauguration ceremony of the two underground bases

The IRGC names underground missile bases as Missile Cities.

Tasnim’s report said the new base boasts homegrown drones with a range of 2,000 kilometers, twin missile launch platforms, and platforms for the launch of multiple drones.

It added that a combination of accuracy and quality in the employment of the new military systems was put on display in a massive exercise held in December 2021.

The IRGC had declared its ability to launch 60 drones simultaneously, according to Reuters.

Saturday’s unveiling comes days after Iran suffered another failed launch of a satellite-carrying rocket.

Satellite images from Maxar Technologies seen by The Associated Press showed scorch marks at a launchpad at the Imam Khomeini Spaceport in Iran's rural Semnan province.

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Pentagon Chief Says Trump Still Aiming for Deal with Iran 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a hearing of the House Committee on Armed Services to discuss the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, USA, 12 June 2025. (EPA)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a hearing of the House Committee on Armed Services to discuss the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, USA, 12 June 2025. (EPA)
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Pentagon Chief Says Trump Still Aiming for Deal with Iran 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a hearing of the House Committee on Armed Services to discuss the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, USA, 12 June 2025. (EPA)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth attends a hearing of the House Committee on Armed Services to discuss the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Request at the US Capitol, Washington, DC, USA, 12 June 2025. (EPA)

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News on Monday that President Donald Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran even as hostilities have escalated between US ally Israel and Tehran, while a White House aide said separately that Washington was not attacking Iran.

"Of course," Hegseth said on Fox News' "Jesse Watters Primetime" show when asked if Trump was still aiming for a nuclear deal with Iran.

"We are postured defensively in the region to be strong in pursuit of a peace deal. And we certainly hope that's what happens here," Hegseth said.

In a social media post on Monday, Trump said "Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran," citing what he said was the country's rejection of a deal to curb nuclear weapons development.

Israel attacked Iran on Friday and since then the two Middle Eastern rivals have exchanged blows, with Iranian officials reporting over 220 deaths, mostly civilians, in five days while Israel said 24 civilians had been killed. Israel says it aims to eliminate what it calls threats posed by Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and has pointed to its right to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, including enrichment, as a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Israel, which is not a party to the NPT, is the only country in the region widely believed to have nuclear weapons. Israel does not deny or confirm that.

The air war between Iran and Israel has raised further alarms in a region that had already been on edge since the start of Israel's military assault on Gaza in October 2023.

Washington has thus far maintained it is not involved in Israeli attacks on Iran and warned Tehran not to attack US interests or personnel in the region.

"We're vigilant, we're prepared, and we have messaged ... consistently from the beginning that we're in the region to defend our people and our assets," Hegseth said on Fox News.

White House aide Alex Pfeiffer took to social media platform X to deny online claims that the US was attacking Iran.

"This is not true. American forces are maintaining their defensive posture, and that has not changed," Pfeiffer said.