An Israeli attack on Iran damaged facilities at a secretive military base southeast of the Iranian capital that experts in the past have linked to Tehran’s nuclear weapons program and at another base tied to its ballistic missile program, satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show.
Some of the buildings damaged are in Iran’s Parchin military base, where the International Atomic Energy Agency suspects Iran in the past conducted tests of high explosives that could trigger a nuclear weapon. Iran long has insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though the IAEA, Western intelligence agencies and others say Tehran had an active weapons program at least up until 2003.
The other damage can be seen at the nearby Khojir military base, which analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites.
Iran’s military has not acknowledged damage at either Khojir or Parchin from Israel’s attack early Saturday, though it has said the assault killed four Iranian soldiers working in the country’s air defense systems.
This satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC shows damaged buildings at Iran’s Khojir military base outside of Tehran, Iran, Oct. 26, 2024 (Planet Labs PBC via AP).
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Israeli military.
Israel’s widespread airstrikes in Iran yesterday crippled Tehran’s ability to produce long-range ballistic missiles, and rendered crucial energy facilities vulnerable to future attacks by destroying air defense batteries protecting them, according to multiple reports.
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