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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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White House's Sullivan: Weakened Iran Could Pursue Nuclear Weapon

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
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White House's Sullivan: Weakened Iran Could Pursue Nuclear Weapon

FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Iranian flag flies in front of the UN office building, housing IAEA headquarters, in Vienna, Austria, May 24, 2021. REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/File Photo

The Biden administration is concerned that a weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, adding that he was briefing President-elect Donald Trump's team on the risk.
Iran has suffered setbacks to its regional influence after Israel's assaults on its allies, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah, followed by the fall of Iran-aligned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran's conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.
"It's no wonder there are voices (in Iran) saying, 'Hey, maybe we need to go for a nuclear weapon right now ... Maybe we have to revisit our nuclear doctrine'," Sullivan said.
Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful, but it has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his 2017-2021 presidential term, pulled out of a deal between Tehran and world powers that put restrictions on Iran's nuclear activity in exchange for sanctions relief.
Sullivan said that there was a risk that Iran might abandon its promise not to build nuclear weapons.
"It's a risk we are trying to be vigilant about now. It's a risk that I'm personally briefing the incoming team on," Sullivan said, adding that he had also consulted with US ally Israel.
Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, could return to his hardline Iran policy by stepping up sanctions on Iran's oil industry. Sullivan said Trump would have an opportunity to pursue diplomacy with Tehran, given Iran's "weakened state."
"Maybe he can come around this time, with the situation Iran finds itself in, and actually deliver a nuclear deal that curbs Iran's nuclear ambitions for the long term," he said.