A key Iranian missile production facility has been destroyed in what appears to be a precision strike, according to satellite imagery analysis conducted by the Associated Press. The targeted complex, located at a Revolutionary Guards base, played a crucial role in Iran's ballistic missile development program.
? NEW HIGH-DEF SATTELITE PHOTOS FROM IRAN: AP has released new satellite imagery of the Israeli strikes on the IRGC Shahroud base showing the damage; pay attention to the central blue building. pic.twitter.com/6IP8PqY6uu
— Monika (@Monika_is_His) October 29, 2024
"While we cannot definitively say whether Iranian production capabilities were completely neutralized, as some experts suggest, or merely damaged, we now have sufficient photographic evidence to confirm substantial impact and destruction," says Fabian Hinz, an Iran missile program specialist at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Washington.
Located in Shahrud, a town in the rural Semnan province northeast of Tehran, the facility operated in a sparsely populated area. Analysis of high-resolution imagery purchased from Planet Labs by AP shows a central building at the Shahrud base sustained direct hits, with multiple vehicles visible around the impact site. Three auxiliary facilities nearby also suffered damage, along with a newly constructed hangar.
"The presence of protective earthen barriers around this building suggests it handled highly explosive materials," notes Hinz, who has extensively studied the site and believes it served as a solid rocket fuel production facility. Satellite photos taken before the strike show large containers near the building that likely housed Kheibar Shekan and Fateh-1 ballistic missiles.
