TEHRAN, July 25 — Iran’s Aerospace Force of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution has spent more than a decade carving a network of underground “Missile Cities” into the bedrock beneath nearly every province and city. At roughly 500 meters underground, these bases are designed to hide road-mobile launcher trucks and keep missiles ready for rapid firing on a moment’s notice, according to Iranian commanders who have shown the sites on state television. Think of it like a subway system built for missiles instead of passengers.
Tunnels snake beneath populated areas, linking cavernous storage “magazines” where missiles stand vertically on racks. No cranes or trans-loaders are needed, so crews can wheel a missile straight onto a launcher, roll it to a firing portal, and unleash it without ever exposing the entire stockpile to air attack.
How the system works
The blueprint was first aired in October 2015. Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, then and still the Aerospace Force commander, released grainy video from one of the sites days after Iran test-fired its Emad medium-range ballistic missile. Hajizadeh told viewers that missiles of varying ranges were already “ready to be launched from underground bases” the instant Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei gave the order.
He added that bases existed in all provinces and cities. By January 2016, tensions with Saudi Arabia had spiked after the execution of Shi’ite cleric Nimr al-Nimr.
State TV aired the bases again. The second-in-command of the Revolutionary Guards bragged on camera that the depots were so full of missiles that commanders did not know where to store new ones. Fast-forward to March 26, 2025.
Iranian media released fresh footage of Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Mohammad Bagheri and Hajizadeh walking through what they called a new “Missile City.” The video showed enormous tunnels lined with vehicles laden with Ghadr-H, Emad, Khaibar Shekan, Sejil, Haj Qassem ballistic missiles, and Paveh land-attack cruise missiles. The display came two months after the US administration issued a two-month ultimatum demanding Iran abandon its nuclear and missile programs.
What the footage reveals
Analysts split on what the video meant. Newsweek described it as propaganda and a warning, yet also pointed out a glaring vulnerability: missiles were stored openly, without blast doors or reinforced barriers. A secondary explosion could be catastrophic.
The Guardian framed the release as a show of strength meant to counter talk in Western capitals of possible military action, even though Iran remained inside the nuclear deal framework at the time. Israeli missile expert Tal Inbar told international media the facility amounted to a “complex system of enormous tunnels” that let Iran hide and fire surface-to-surface missiles with little warning.
Why underground bases matter
In plain terms, the deeper you bury a missile, the harder it is for satellites, stealth aircraft, or long-range bombers to find it. Road-mobile launchers can be moved, but once they stop to fire they become targets. An underground city removes that dilemma: the launcher can stay mobile until the very last leg, then slip into a tunnel, reload, and vanish.
Iran’s approach mirrors what North Korea has done with its own underground facilities. The pattern—dig deep, store vertically, launch quickly—is now a recognized template for survivable missile forces in contested airspace.
What to watch next
The US administration has made clear it will not tolerate Iranian advances that shorten warning times for regional allies. Expect stepped-up intelligence flights and satellite passes over suspected Missile City perimeters. Any visible construction at new sites—especially near sensitive population centers—will trigger immediate diplomatic démarches and could hasten sanctions snap-back at the United Nations.
For now, the tunnels remain hidden. But the videos have already given the world a rare glimpse inside.
The practical upshot: Iran’s missile force is harder to disarm than ever, and the countdown to the next crisis may have already begun.
