Inside Iran’s ‘missile cities’: The secret underground bases powering Tehran’s arsenal

Iran’s missile arsenal remains one of the central pillars of its military strategy against Israel and the US, even after months of intensive strikes that have damaged launch sites, storage facilities and parts of its missile-production network.

For years, the benchmark figure was more than 3,000 ballistic missiles, based on a 2022 assessment by the US Central Command. But that figure is outdated.

The latest publicly reported Israeli assessment puts Iran’s ballistic-missile stockpile at fewer than 2,000 missiles by the end of 2026, following sustained US and Israeli attacks. Earlier this year, the Israeli military estimated that Iran had about 2,500 ballistic missiles, while reporting that Tehran was producing dozens of new missiles a month.

The numbers remain uncertain.

Iran has fired thousands of missiles and drones in successive rounds of regional conflict since 2024, while continuing efforts to replenish its stockpile.

A May 2026 assessment by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies estimated that Iran had launched roughly 2,200–2,400 missiles in four waves of military operations between 2024 and 2026, making simple comparisons with the old 3,000-plus estimate unreliable.

Tehran does not currently possess nuclear weapons or an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States.

The US and Israel have focused heavily on degrading Iran's ability to use its conventional weapons and missile force, targeting mobile launchers mounted on trucks as well as fixed launch facilities.

Despite those losses, Iran's remaining missile capability remains a crucial element of its conventional deterrence.

According to recent reporting by El Pais and Iran International, Tehran regime's strategic ballistic missile network is anchored around 30 critical underground and surface installations, as mapped by international intelligence.

These fortified "missile cities" house, manufacture, and deploy thousands of precision-guided short, medium, and long-range ballistic missiles capable of regional power projection:

Tabriz Missile Base

• Location: East Azerbaijan Province, Northwestern Iran

• Description: This massive facility serves as Iran's second-largest underground missile silo network. It is heavily carved into mountainous terrain to maximise structural survivability. The site primarily deploys Shahab-2 and Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missiles. It is strategically positioned to project military force deep into parts of Eastern and Central Europe.

Al Zahra Garrison, near Amand

• Around Tabriz, the largest city in northwestern Iran and a strategic hub near the borders with Azerbaijan, Armenia and Turkey, three important missile bases are co-located.

• The most important is the Al-Zahra garrison near the town of Amand, northwest of Tabriz, and the base is often referred to by that name. South of Tabriz, near the town of Sardroud and the Tabriz radar station, an old air-defence site was later repurposed as the southern Tabriz missile base.

• A third site is located in Urmia, the capital of West Azarbaijan province, inside a military zone that houses the IRGC Ground Force’s 3rd Special Forces Division and the northwest regional support command.

Khorramabad Silo Complex

• Location: Lorestan Province, Western Iran

• Description: Operating as Iran's largest active underground missile silo complex, this heavily fortified facility acts as a central hub. It specializes in the industrial-scale assembly, ballistic production, and subterranean storage of liquid-fueled missiles. The vast network features multiple hardened mountain entry tunnels built to withstand heavy external aerial bombardments.

Kenesht Canyon Underground Base

• Location: Kermanshah Province, Western Iran

• Description: This highly strategic subterranean fortress features at least 60 distinct tunnel bunkers visible on satellite imagery. It functions as a primary launch repository for rapid-response mobile transporter erector launchers (TELs). Its proximity to the western border allows targeted coverage over Israel and the immediate Gulf region.

Bakhtaran Missile Base

• Location: Kermanshah Province, Western Iran

• Description: Positioned alongside regional launch corridors, this major base integrates a dense underground facility with multiple deployment sites. It contains two primary subterranean missile storage sectors and hardened launch pads. The garrison permanently houses medium-range solid-fuel platforms configured for rapid strategic escalation across the Middle East.

Isfahan Assembly Complex

• Location: Isfahan Province, Central Iran

• Description: This sprawling infrastructure serves as Iran's largest domestic missile manufacturing and industrial assembly headquarters. It produces solid and liquid propellants while assembling advanced long-range variants. The highly guarded site includes deeply buried research centers and adjacent subterranean launch garrisons designed for strategic weapon preservation.

Semnan Launch Site

• Location: Semnan Province, Northern Iran

• Description: Acting as the primary testing ground for Iran's long-range ballistic missile inventory, this expansive desert facility features large launch pads. It integrates above-ground servicing towers with complex subterranean storage bunkers. The site supports dual-use liquid-propellant testing and provides critical infrastructure for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) space program.

Shahrud Space Center

• Location: Semnan Province, Northeast of Tehran

• Description: This primary aerospace facility is operated directly by the IRGC Aerospace Force for solid-propellant motor fabrication. It features massive horizontal test stands and underground assembly vaults. The installation plays a foundational role in testing multi-stage ballistic military systems disguised under civilian satellite launch initiatives.

Parchin Military Complex

• Location: Tehran Province, East of Tehran

• Description: This vast, heavily restricted military reservation serves as a premier research, development, and fuel-production site. It specializes in synthesizing chemical propellants, testing warhead explosives, and manufacturing ballistic rocket components. The complex incorporates deeply tunneled mountain vaults used to shield illicit high-explosive weapon research from international observation.

Dezful Underground Base

• Location: Khuzestan Province, Southwestern Iran

• Description: Built deep inside regional mountain chains, this major subterranean facility acts as a forward-deployed missile storage hub. It features at least five major fortified concrete tunnel entrances linked to interior railway systems. The base is specifically designed to roll out and launch precision tactical ballistic systems targeting regional naval assets.

Qeshm Island Fortress

• Location: Qeshm Island, Strait of Hormuz

• Description: Operating as an "unsinkable aircraft carrier," this island outpost contains a extensive underground maritime "missile city". It houses highly classified anti-ship cruise and ballistic platforms hidden within subterranean coastal labyrinth networks. The site's primary mission is enforcing strategic chokehold operations across the vital Strait of Hormuz.

Khorgo Underground Facility

• Location: Bandar Abbas, Hormozgan Province

• Description: Located near Iran's southern coast, this heavily bunkered installation contains reinforced underground silos dug into dense mountain slopes. It provides immediate launch capabilities for anti-ship ballistic variants and maritime denial assets. The facility features hardened entry networks built to withstand conventional bunker-busting airstrikes.

Khormuj Silo Base

• Location: Bushehr Province, Southern Iran

• Description: This modern subterranean launch facility features nine primitive but highly functional underground firing silos. The vertical silos are bored directly into the mountain faces flanking the primary complex. This design enables direct, automated missile launches aimed toward the Gulf without exposing ground crews or vehicles.

Its location places key Gulf cities at roughly 550 to 650 km away. The site contains nine vertical launch shafts, giving it one of the more extensive hardened missile launch layouts in the southern cluster.

The first signs of construction appeared in satellite imagery in 2018. Development has moved quickly since then, turning Khormoj into one of the newer but more significant missile sites along Iran’s southern belt.

• Location: Hormozgan Province, Southern Iran

• Description: This fortified base serves as a specialized underground launch facility for hardened mobile transporter trucks. It incorporates heavily reinforced concrete structures engineered to conceal advanced solid-fuel missile batteries from modern satellite reconnaissance. The installation acts as a vital link in Iran's secondary coastal strike architecture.

• Location: Kermanshah Province, Western Iran

• Description: Panj-Peleh, one of IRGC's oldest missile bases, is located about four kilometers east of Kermanshah. This military facility is configured specifically for regional missile storage and automated launch staging. The installation contains multiple hardened mountain entryways connected to hidden subterranean caverns. It maintains a high state of operational readiness to field mobile tactical weapons along the western border zone. It is also known as Imam Hassan Garrison. The base was heavily struck during the 12-day war. At least two videos of attacks on the site were published on June 14 and June 18, 2025. Spread across roughly six square kilometers, the complex contains at least 80 earth-covered ammunition depots visible in satellite imagery, as well as two tunnel entrances on its northern side.

• Location: Tangeh Kenesht area north of Kermanshah.

• Description: This base lies 3 to 8 kilometers northwest of Panj-Peleh, or Imam Hassan Garrison, in the Tangeh Kenesht area north of Kermanshah.

  Satellite imagery shows that much of the complex’s southern section predates 2001, including dozens of earth-covered ammunition bunkers, known in military terminology as igloos, as well as support facilities. At least 63 such bunkers are visible there.

Two tunnel entrances are visible at the eastern end of the complex. Construction on began in 2005. Four more tunnel entrances were later built in the northern part of the complex. Construction of two of them began in 2020, while the other two were built from 2022 onward, as per Iran International.

Bidganeh Missile Facility

• Location: Alborz Province, West of Tehran

• Description: Historically significant as a primary research and solid-fuel development center for the IRGC, this base handles advanced testing. It focuses on extending the operational range of precision-guided ballistic missiles. The installation incorporates isolated, blast-reinforced testing cells and deep storage bunkers built to contain volatile chemical accidents.

• Location: Alborz Province, Tehran Cluster

• Description: Operating as a vital logistical node within the northern missile defense belt, this base supports rapid deployment. It features underground storage vaults designed to house short-range mobile ballistic platforms. The facility provides critical security and technical upkeep for missile systems defending the capital's airspace.

Deh Torkaman Base

• Location: Tehran Province, East of Capital

• Description: Part of the core north-central strategic defense chain, this hidden facility emphasizes underground weapon storage. It provides quick-reaction deployment options for mobile launcher trucks stationed near political command sectors. The base is protected by layered anti-aircraft defense networks to safeguard its subterranean military assets.

Garmsar Missile Site

• Location: Semnan Province, North-Central Iran

• Description: This testing and training facility supports operational crews transitioning to long-range weapon platforms. It contains multiple open-air launch pads paired with underground assembly hangars. The site allows the IRGC to simulate active battlefield deployments while keeping its primary missile stock safely under deep mountain cover.

Al-Zahra Garrison | Northern Tabriz missile city

• Location: Tabriz Region, East Azerbaijan Province

• Description: Functioning as a high-security military garrison, this site anchors the Tabriz defense cluster. It features specialized underground infrastructure used to store mobile short-range ballistic systems. The facility is positioned to rapidly reinforce frontline operations along Iran's northwestern borders.

• Al-Zahra Base is a missile base about 2.5 kilometers northwest of Amand, and 20 kilometers northwest of Tabriz. It is known as the northern Tabriz “missile city,” the Amand base or Al-Zahra garrison.

Mobarakeh Complex

• Location: Isfahan Province, Central Iran

• Description: This industrial site functions as a major support facility within the central manufacturing network. It specializes in fabrication, mechanical engineering, and hardware testing for advanced weapon casings. The heavily guarded plant supplies essential structural components to nearby missile assembly lines.

Ahmad Kazemi Base

• Location: Isfahan Cluster, Central Iran

• Description: This major IRGC garrison is dedicated to managing and housing mobile ballistic missile launchers. It maintains a network of reinforced underground garages that shield launcher trucks from preemptive air tracking. The base acts as a mobile reserve force capable of deploying across central Iranian territory.

Ya Haydar Karar Base

• Location: Alborz Mountains, Northern Iran

• Description: This modern fortress is engineered to be one of Iran's largest and deepest underground military centers. Excavated at depths between 500 and 700 meters, it features a sprawling multi-kilometer tunnel web. The facility is built to survive nuclear strikes while hosting mass production, storage, and automated launch systems.

Treereze Missile Site

• Location: Northwestern Border Region

• Description: Tucked deep inside rugged mountain geography, this tactical base utilises hardened subterranean caverns for missile concealment. It features pop-up launch mechanisms and automated exit tunnels designed for rapid strike execution. The site focuses on providing high-survivability strike coverage facing northwestern regional borders.

• Location: Qom Province, Central Iran

• Description: Situated adjacent to heavily fortified nuclear infrastructure, this deeply buried base provides retaliatory missile defence capabilities. It features reinforced mountain bunkers housing advanced medium-range precision weapons. The facility is designed to safeguard strategic launch assets directly alongside Iran's core nuclear facilities.

Shiraz Missile Facility

• Location: Fars Province, Southern Iran

• Description: Shiraz Cluster: Two main missile bases are located around Shiraz, the largest city in southwestern Iran and the capital of Fars province. One lies northeast of the city, inside a military zone near Bajgah and the agricultural college of Shiraz University. The other is southwest of Shiraz, near the village of Kafari.

• The large southern hub focuses on storing and maintaining liquid-fueled medium-range ballistic inventory. It incorporates a sprawling series of subterranean galleries carved out of the local hillsides. The base serves as a crucial launch point for targeting operations tracking across the Gulf and southern shipping lanes.

Bandar Abbas Naval Missile Base

• Location: Hormozgan Province, Southern Coast

• Description: Operated primarily by the IRGC Navy, this subterranean coastal installation houses high-speed anti-ship ballistic platforms. The facility features automated rail networks designed to move weapon systems from deep interior bunkers out to coastal firing points. It acts as a primary naval denial installation. The Khourgou (also "Khorgo") missile base, about 32 kilometers northeast of Bandar Abbas, Iran’s main port city on the Strait of Hormuz, is roughly 100 kilometers from the Hormuz Strait itself.

• The site had basic military infrastructure before 2001. Around 30 ammunition depots had already been built in the area. Fox News first reported in 2021 that construction of a new facility south of the older site had begun around 2017. A newer section shows at least three launch shafts completeed. A large tunnel entrance has been cut into the hillside at the end of the western access route, and additional entrances have appeared near the older ammunition depots.

Dorud Missile Facility

• Location: Lorestan Province, Western Iran

• Description: This component facility supports the nearby Khorramabad complex by managing heavy manufacturing and missile logistics. It handles precision metallurgy, structural engineering, and casing assembly for solid-propellant rockets. The site relies on deeply recessed structural bunkers to protect its volatile industrial machinery.

Arak Research Complex

• Location: Markazi Province, Western Iran

• Description: While known for nuclear research, this heavily secured complex includes dedicated aerospace research and engineering labs. It designs advanced guidance packages, flight control systems, and reentry vehicle technologies. These design initiatives aim to improve the accuracy of Iran's long-range weapon platforms.

Karaj R&D Facility

• Location: Alborz Province, Near Tehran

• Description: This highly classified electronics and industrial center specialises in engineering research for the defense sector. It focuses on developing counter-radar shielding, electronic warfare packages, and automated components for ballistic systems. The facility utilizes heavily bunkered laboratory complexes to prevent foreign intelligence monitoring.

Manzariyah Fuel Site

• Location: Qom/Tehran Border Region

• Description: Operating as a critical chemical depot, this site specialises in the research, processing, and storage of liquid rocket fuels. It features heavily insulated underground storage tanks and mixing facilities engineered to safely handle toxic propellants. The depot directly supplies active launch bases throughout north-central Iran.