Damage to the IRGC base is expected to limit its ability to build the ballistic missiles it needs as a stockpile to deter Israeli attacks
Israel’s attack on Iran likely destroyed a Revolutionary Guard base where ballistic missiles are manufactured and used to launch rockets as part of the Iranian body’s space program, satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press showed on Tuesday.
The damage to the Shahroud base raises new questions about Israel’s attack early Saturday, particularly as it took place in an area Tehran has not recognized and also because it involved the Revolutionary Guards, a powerful force within its theocracy. Iran has so far not reported any possible damage from the attack. Iran admitted that the Israeli attacks occurred only in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces, but not in Semnan province, where the base is located.
It also potentially further limits the IRGC’s ability to build the ballistic missiles it needs as a stockpile to be used to deter Israeli attacks. Tehran relies here on this particular equipment as it cannot buy the advanced Western weapons with which Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors have been equipped over the years, mainly from the United States.
Satellite photos analyzed earlier by the AP of two military bases near Tehran also targeted by Israel show that sites there that Iran uses to build its ballistic missiles have been destroyed, further straining its program.
Images show a large building at the base of Shahroud destroyed
High-resolution satellite images from Planet Labs PBC obtained and analyzed by the AP showed the damage at the Guards’ Shahroud Space Center in Semnan, about 370 kilometers northeast of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Semnan is also home to the Imam Khomeini Space Center, which is used by Iran’s civilian space program.
The images show that a central, large building at the Shahroud Space Center has been destroyed, with only the shadow of its skeleton still standing visible in the image. Vehicles were clustered around the scene, probably officials inspecting the damage, and the number of vehicles at the main gate parked was higher than usual.
Three small buildings directly to the south of the main structure also appear to have been damaged. Iran has been constructing new buildings at the base in recent months. Another shed to the northeast of the main building also appeared to be damaged.
The US is concerned that the Guard’s space program is a cover-up
A short distance from the destroyed buildings is a concrete launch pad used by the Guardians, who have conducted a number of successful missions launching satellites into space using mobile launchers. The Guards, who answer only to 85-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, revealed their secret space program in 2020.
The US intelligence community’s assessment is that Iran’s continued development of satellite-launching weapons would “reduce the timetable for production” of an intercontinental ballistic missile because it uses similar technology.
ICBMs can be used to launch nuclear weapons. Iran is now producing close to weapons-grade uranium after the nuclear deal with world powers collapsed. Tehran has enough enriched uranium for “several” nuclear weapons if it chooses to build them, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has repeatedly warned.
Source :Skai
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