Satellite photos show Israeli strike likely hit major Iranian missile plant
New satellite photographs suggest that the Israeli military’s attack on Iran on Saturday struck an array of sensitive military sites, including a major missile production facility, The New York Times reported.
The strikes destroyed air-defense systems set up to protect several critical oil and petrochemical refineries, as well as systems guarding a large gas field and a major port in southern Iran. Israel also struck military bases in the provinces of Tehran, according to Iran’s national air defense.
The satellite images from Planet Labs, taken in March and on Tuesday, show the Shahroud Space Center in Semnan Province, which belongs to Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Fabian Hinz, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies who has been tracking that site since 2017, said it was used to build solid-propellant rocket motors that can be used in space technology, but which are also commonly used for ballistic missiles.
American and Israeli officials have said that the attack was aimed particularly at Iran’s ability to make solid propellant for missiles. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech on Sunday that Israel had struck hard at Iran’s ability to produce missiles and had achieved all of its objectives.
Mr. Hinz said he had “high confidence” that the Shahroud facility was used in the mass production of intermediate-range ballistic missiles that could be used to target Israel. Comparing the images from March and from Tuesday, he said Israel had “bombed the central building, which was associated with solid-propellant rocket production.”
In recent years, the Revolutionary Guards have developed a missile development program separate from the Iranian armed forces’ program, Mr. Hinz said. The Shahroud facility contains infrastructure for a space program, but solid-propellant facilities are “inherently versatile” and can easily be adapted for making missiles, he said.
He said there were signs of missile production in the image from March, including the presence of crates for ballistic missile motors and many storage bunkers. “You don’t need so many storage bunkers for a space program,” Mr. Hinz said.