On Wednesday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard invited Iranian state TV to tour one of their underground “secret” missile bases. The tour came the day after Iran’s parliament passed a bill approving the country’s nuclear treaty with six world powers.
During the broadcast, the Guard exhibited some of their middle-range as well as long-range missiles. The footage showed long tunnels with ready-to-fire missiles loaded on the backs of trucks. The broadcast also boasted that this was just one of “hundreds of underground missile bases” throughout the country.
The location of the base was not disclosed, but the broadcast did say that the facility was 500 meters (1600 feet) below ground.
The display came only a few days after Iran test-fired a new precision-guided long-range ballistic missile. The testing of the missile garnered Iran a harsh response by the international community.
“We’ll obviously raise this at the United Nations Security Council as we have done in previous launches,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters, noting the test appeared to be a violation of U.N. Security Resolution 1929.
Both Toner and White House spokesman Josh Earnest said that this issue was separate from the nuclear deal Iran struck in July.
Under Resolution 1929, which was created in 2010, ballistic missile tests by Iran are banned. This ban remains until the nuclear deal goes into effect.
The new resolution states that once the deal takes effect, countries from the international community will be allowed to transfer missile technology and heavy weapons to Iran on a case-by-case basis. This transfer of technology and arms will still come under the supervision of the United Nations Security Council, which will have to give its formal approval.
Amir Ali Hajizadeh, head of the Revolutionary Guard’s aerospace branch, boasts the facility is the “tip of the iceberg” of the Guard’s military might.
