Iran Unveils New Underground Naval Base

A screenshot from Iranian state TV shows a newly built underground naval base, January 18, 2025.
A screenshot from Iranian state TV shows a newly built underground naval base, January 18, 2025.
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Iran Unveils New Underground Naval Base

A screenshot from Iranian state TV shows a newly built underground naval base, January 18, 2025.
A screenshot from Iranian state TV shows a newly built underground naval base, January 18, 2025.

The naval arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) unveiled on Saturday an underground base in the country’s southern waters, according to footage aired by state television.

The broadcaster, AFP said, showed that the base houses dozens of assault boats equipped with missile launchers.

“This facility, which houses missile assault boats, lies 500 meters underground on the southern waters of Iran,” the report said. It did not reveal the location of the base.

IRGC commander General Hossein Salami toured the base with naval arm commander, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, the footage showed.

“We assure the great nation of Iran that their young people are capable of coming out honorable and victorious from a battle on the seas against enemies big and small,” Salami said.

Salami's visit comes just days before Donald Trump's inauguration as US president on Monday for a second term of office.

During his first term, Trump pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” against Iran, abandoning a 2015 nuclear agreement and reimposing sweeping sanctions.

State television said some of the vessels kept at the base unveiled on Saturday were “capable of destroying US warships and destroyers.”

In a rare video released on January 10, the Iranian state TV showed Salami and Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh touring an underground missile storage facility that had been used to launch around 200 missiles at Israel last October. These included for the first time hypersonic weapons.

At the time, Iran said the attack came in retaliation for the assassination in July of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, and in response to the Israeli air strike in the southern suburbs of Beirut on September 27 that killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and Brig-Gen Abbas Nilforoushan, the operations commander of the IRGC’s overseas arm, the Quds Force.

Israel announced in late October that it had struck military targets inside Iran in response to the Iranian attacks.



Russia Focusing Airstrikes on Ukraine Draft Offices to Derail Recruitment, Kyiv Says

A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)
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Russia Focusing Airstrikes on Ukraine Draft Offices to Derail Recruitment, Kyiv Says

A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)
A view shows ruins of buildings in the abandoned town of Marinka (Maryinka), which was destroyed in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in the Donetsk region, a Russian-controlled area of Ukraine, April 1, 2025. (Reuters)

Russia killed two people in an airstrike on the central Ukrainian city of Poltava on Thursday and damaged a military draft office there in what Kyiv said was a concerted campaign to disrupt recruitment for its war effort.

The strike on Poltava, which also injured 47 people and caused a fire at the city's main draft office, followed a drone attack on Monday near a recruitment center in Kryvyi Rih. Both cities are regional capitals.

"We understand that their (Russian) goal is to disrupt the mobilisation process," Vitaliy Sarantsev, a spokesperson for Ukraine's ground forces, told Ukraine's public broadcaster, Reuters reported.

"But I want to say that...it is too early (for Russia) to uncork the champagne because the process is impossible to stop."

Ukraine has struggled to fend off a bigger and better-equipped Russian army, and its call-up process has been marred by reports of draft-office corruption, poor training and weak battlefield command.

Well into the fourth year of its full-scale invasion, Russia has gained ground in eastern Ukraine and repeatedly hit cities far behind the front lines with drones and missiles, while also waging a sabotage campaign there, Kyiv's domestic security agency says.

In a statement to Reuters last month, the Security Service of Ukraine said it had arrested more than 700 people since 2024 for alleged crimes that included arson attacks on troop vehicles and bombings at draft offices.

A Ukrainian security official, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said Russia was aiming to derail Kyiv's military call-up effort also by spreading disinformation and hacking recruitment office computers.

"The disruption of mobilisation is closely linked to the spread of panic and intimidation of the population," the source said, adding that bombings were part of the general strategy.

INTENSIFYING STRIKES

Russian forces have also stepped up strikes on military training grounds in recent weeks, prompting Kyiv's top general to order a strengthening of security measures at bases.

A missile attack on southeastern Ukraine this week killed a brigade commander. Ukrainian forces have also staged longer-range attacks on Russian bases in occupied territory as well as deep inside Russia.

Thursday's strike on Poltava came after the US said it had paused some weapons shipments to Ukraine, which drew warnings in Kyiv that the move would harm Ukraine's defence against intensifying Russian air strikes and battlefield gains.

Separately on Thursday, two people were killed in a ballistic missile strike on port infrastructure in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa, said regional governor Oleh Kiper.

Dozens of people have been killed in recent drone and missile salvoes at Ukrainian cities, including the capital Kyiv.