( RFE/ RL) – Iran says it has numerous underground missile bases across Iran, and sporadically unveils some with a lot of hype.
The newly unveiled base — dubbed “a missile metropolis” by some outlets — is a massive facility filled with high-powered weaponry, but experts say no new hardware could be spotted in footage shared by state media.
Farzin Nadimi, a senior fellow with the Washington Institute, noted that an “unusual feature” of the base is its “wide and quite spacious tunnels and galleries. He concluded that the facility, which he speculated was in western Iran, was designed to house intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The base is home to missiles that travel well beyond 1,000 kilometers, including the Kheibarshekan and Sejjil ballistic missile and Paveh cruise missile, all of which can reach Israel and US bases in the Middle East if launched from western Iran.
Why It Matters: Iran is showing no interest in holding direct talks over its nuclear program with the United States, and has outright rejected negotiations to rein in its missile program and regional activities.
Trump has said he prefers a deal with Tehran, warning that it beats the alternative approach, which would be to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities — something that US ally and Iranian foe Israel appears ready and willing to do.
For decades Iran relied on its sprawling network of regional allies and proxies, known as the ‘axis of resistance’, as deterrence against Israel and the United States. But key members of the group, including the US-designated Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah, have been militarily degraded by Israel over the past year.
Last month, The New York Times reported that Iran was considering developing a crude nuclear weapon as a deterrent against potential attacks. However, experts believe Western intelligence would likely detect such efforts in time to respond militarily.
Despite Iran’s show of missile prowess, an Israeli attack in November degraded the Islamic republic’s missile production capabilities.
What’s Being Said: Gregory Brew, an Iran analyst at Eurasia Group, said Iran was “clearly” sending a message with the unveiling.
“Missile,” Digital, Dream / Dreamland v3 / ChatGPT, 2025
“Iran is clearly signaling it regards its ability to bring overwhelming force via [medium-range ballistic missiles] as its chief source of deterrence, with Hezbollah out of action,” he wrote on X.
Abdolrasool Divsallar, a senior researcher at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), said Iran “relies on the size of its missile arsenal” to make up for deficits in their accuracy and destructive power.
The New York-based Soufan Group argued that Iran’s unwillingness to restrict its missile and drone programs or its support for regional armed factions, in addition to its demands for extensive sanctions relief, “will further complicate US-Iran negotiations.”
Expert Opinion: “These developments reveal Iranian thinking about restructuring of its deterrence, highlighting a continued reliance on conventional forces & unwillingness to switch to nuclear deterrence,” Divsallar wrote on X.
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