Israeli airstrikes on Saturday targeted buildings linked to Iran's missile production capabilities, including a facility previously connected to Tehran's nuclear weapons program, according to analysis of commercial satellite imagery shared with Reuters.
David Albright, a former UN weapons inspector, and Decker Eveleth, an associate research analyst at CNA, independently assessed that Israel struck facilities in the Parchin military complex near Tehran. The attacks also hit the Khojir missile production site, which Reuters reported in July was undergoing significant expansion.
"Israel may have significantly hampered Iran's ability to mass produce missiles," Eveleth told Reuters. The Israeli military confirmed that three waves of Israeli jets struck missile factories and other sites near Tehran and in western Iran at 3:00 a.m. Saturday, responding to Iran's October 1 barrage of more than 200 missiles against Israel.
Iranian military officials characterized the Israeli warheads as "very light" and said they struck border radar systems in the provinces of Ilam, Khuzestan, and areas surrounding Tehran.
Albright, who heads the Institute for Science and International Security research group, said satellite imagery showed Israel damaged multiple buildings at Parchin, including a structure known as Taleghan 2 that was previously used for testing during Iran's Amad Plan nuclear weapons development program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency and US intelligence indicate Iran ended this program in 2003, though Iran maintains it never pursued nuclear weapons. Albright, who reviewed program files obtained by Israel's Mossad in 2018, noted that while Iran may have removed key materials before the strike, the building held "intrinsic value" for potential future nuclear weapons-related activities.
Analysis of Planet Labs satellite imagery by Eveleth revealed that Israeli strikes destroyed three ballistic missile solid fuel mixing buildings and a warehouse at Parchin. Additional strikes hit two similar fuel mixing facilities at the Khojir complex. "Israel says they targeted buildings housing solid-fuel mixers," Eveleth explained to Reuters. "These industrial mixers are hard to make and export-controlled. Iran imported many over the years at great expense, and will likely have a hard time replacing them."
According to Axios, citing three unnamed Israeli sources, the strikes destroyed 12 "planetary mixers" used in producing solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles, potentially severely limiting Iran's ability to replenish its missile stockpile. US officials say Iran maintains the Middle East's largest missile arsenal and has provided missiles to Russia for use in Ukraine, as well as to Yemen's Houthi rebels and the Lebanese militia Hezbollah. Both Tehran and Moscow deny Russian receipt of Iranian missiles.
Earlier satellite imagery analyzed by Eveleth and Jeffrey Lewis of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey showed major expansions at Khojir and the Modarres military complex near Tehran that they assessed were for increasing missile production, as reported by Reuters. Three senior Iranian officials confirmed this assessment.
