Israel’s retaliatory attack on Iran likely damaged a base run by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for ballistic missile construction, and for rocket launches as part of its space program, satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press on Tuesday showed.
The damage at the base in Shahroud raises new questions about Israel’s attack early Saturday — which was a response to an Iranian barrage of some 200 ballistic missiles earlier this month — particularly as it took place in an area previously unacknowledged by Tehran and involved the IRGC, a paramilitary force that so far has remained silent about any possible damage it suffered from the assault.
Iran only has identified Israeli attacks as taking place in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces — not in rural Semnan province where the base is located.
It also potentially further restrains the IRGCs ability to manufacture the solid-fuel ballistic missiles it stockpiles, which it has used against Israel in its two direct attacks, in April and in October.
Satellite photos earlier analyzed by the AP of two military bases near Tehran also targeted by Israel show that sites there that Iran uses in its ballistic missile manufacturing have been destroyed, further squeezing its heavily sanctioned program.
“We don’t know if Iranian production has been crippled as some people are saying or just damaged,” said Fabian Hinz, a missile expert and research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies who studies Iran. “We’ve seen enough imagery to show there’s an impact.”
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israeli military declined to answer questions from the AP, but sent a previous statement acknowledging it targeted “missile manufacturing facilities” in the attack.
