Iran’s secret missile storage site was disclosed by the anti-regime group at a time when regional tensions increased

The People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), a leading Iranian opposition group, provided Fox News Digital with information about a secret site. Islamic Republic of Iran Allegedly, it stores and prepares the missiles it uses against its enemies, sells them to its allies and provides them to its proxies.

Located in a mountainous area outside Eshtehard City in Alborz province, northwest of Tehran, the camp known as Shahid (Martyr) Soltani Garrison is heavily guarded and surrounded by two rows of barbed wire. Activity is alleged to have increased in the second half of 2024, with the MEK stating that “more than ten trailers carrying missile parts” entered the camp in July.

MEK said that Shahab-3, Qiam, Fateh and Fath series ballistic missiles were among the weapons stored in the region.

From Pressure for a Ceasefire to BOOTS ON TRAVEL IN ISRAEL: THE US APPARENTLY AGREES TO INTERVENE IN THE INCREASE OF WAR

Satellite images show the Shahid Soltani Garrison outside Eshtehard City, Iran, containing large storage warehouses (left), a series of small buildings (right), and an underground tunnel with two openings (center). (NCRI/MEK)

Iran expert Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the Islamic Regime was “liberated from the Islamic Regime” after a “layered attack” against Israel in April that included nearly 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. The number of “low and slow flying” assets and “ballistic” weapons has been doubled. Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles into Israeli airspace on October 1.

Taleblu noted that Iran used the same liquid fuel systems it used in the April attack, Emad and Ghadr ballistic missiles, which are evolutions of Shahab-3. The October attack also reportedly involved the solid-fuel Kheibar Shekan and even the hypersonic Fattah-1 ballistic missile. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson also confirmed to Fox News Digital that Iran’s recent attacks involved Fattah-1 and Fattah-2 hypersonic ballistic missiles.

Shahid Soltani Garrison is in a remote mountainous area outside Eshtehard, Iran. (NCRI/MEK)

During the larger October 1 attack on Israel, two US destroyers intercepted about a dozen Iranian missiles. Neither the Pentagon nor the Defense Intelligence Agency responded to Fox News Digital’s questions about whether American assets were targeted by various Iranian ballistic missiles said to be hosted at the Eshtehard field or whether the United States had intercepted any of those missiles in the area. .

To protect Israel from further Iranian ballistic missile attacks, the United States sent the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to Tel Aviv along with a staff of 100 U.S. soldiers to operate the system. Taleblu says THAAD will “function as a critical patch on Israel’s existing, already very well-layered air missile defenses,” but with only 48 interceptors, Taleblu says THAAD’s long-term viability is “debatable.”

IRANIAN NATIONAL AIRCRAFT ACCUSED OF FLYING WEAPONS INTO BEIRUT AIRPORT FOR TERRORIST PROXY HIZBOLLA: REPORT

Commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Forces Emir Ali Hajizadeh gives a speech while introducing Iran’s first hypersonic ballistic missile, Fattah, at an event in Tehran on June 6, 2023. (Sepah News / Statement/Anadolu Agency, via Getty Images)

It is unknown whether ballistic missiles targeting Israel were stored or prepared at the Shahid Soltani Garrison. It is also unknown whether the short-range ballistic missiles supplied by Iran to Russia and sanctioned by the US Treasury and State ministries are also kept in this region.

MEK provided satellite images showing two different parts of the Shahid Sultani Garrison. The above-ground storage yards were “installed at least 15 years ago” and include a segment of single-story warehouses and three-story warehouses offering a total of 6,500 square feet of storage space. About 10 buildings in another part of the garrison offer 3,000 square feet of additional space. Underground tunnels built on the site between 2017 and 2021 offer more storage space.

According to the report, the Al Ghadir Missile Command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Forces is responsible for the camp. IRGC Brigadier General General Partovi was the last known commander of the region. The MEK stated that Colonel Mohammad Reza Hakimzadeh and Colonel Barati from the IRGC’s Eshtehard Corps were responsible for administrative affairs regarding the camp.

ISRAELI FORCES SEIZED DOCUMENTS REVEALED HAMAS’ PLAN FOR MORE DETAILED ATTACKS: REPORT

The report shows three one-story warehouses, one three-story warehouse, and a fifth, unidentified warehouse, providing a total of 6,500 square meters of storage space in part of the Shahid Soltani Garrison. (MEK/NCRI)

Al Ghadir Missile Command in 2010 Approved by USA. both by the EU. Al Ghadir Missile Command commanders, including Mahmud Bagheri Kazemabad and Muhammad Agha Jafari, were also subject to US sanctions.

Ballistic missiles, which are likely and definitely of Iranian origin, have targeted US forces before. Iran-backed militias fire an unknown person close range ballistic missile Eight people were injured and infrastructure was damaged in the attack at Al Asad Air Base on November 21, 2023.

On January 8, 2020, Iran launched 27 regional ballistic missiles at Al Asad Air Base. According to a medical study of the effects of the attack, 11 of them, Fateh and Qiam missiles, fell on the US base. The impact of the missiles resulted in approximately 35 cases of traumatic brain injury or concussion.

Residents of Jerusalem take shelter during Iranian missile bombardment on October 1, 2024. (Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)

Taleblu noted that countering Iran’s ballistic missile program will require various efforts. At the economic and political end of the spectrum, they cover Iran’s trade with China, go after Iran’s domestic and foreign supply chain “throughout its entire ballistic lifecycle,” and expose the rotating travel of individuals involved in the ballistic missile program. bans and sanctions. Taleblu explained that the aforementioned efforts, combined with covert or kinetic operations, “can really clamp down on this missile program.”

Taleblu said it is important to maintain advanced missile defense systems to deter Iranian weapons, strengthen U.S. bases and ensure that “the elements of deterrence through punishment are not only present, but understood and believed.”

CLICK TO REACH THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION

A Fateh-110 missile is shown at an undisclosed location in Tehran, Iran, circa 2010. (Vahid Reza Alaei/Iran Ministry of Defense, via AP/File)

Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, shared a different approach with Fox News Digital. He explained that “real democracy in Iran and peace and tranquility in the region depend on the collapse of the regime, and this responsibility falls on the Iranian people and their organized resistance.”

“Survival of the Iranian regime “This depends on the export of terrorism and aggression while brutally oppressing the Iranian people,” Jafarzadeh said. Considering that “decades of appeasement policies have emboldened this dictatorship,” he called for and recommended the implementation of “the Revolutionary Guard and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security’s definition of terrorism.” “Supporting Iranian youth and the Resistance Units against the Revolutionary Guards are very important steps that the United States and European nations must embrace.”