Satellite Images Show Israel Attacked Iran’s Solid Fuel Production Site in Parchin

Assessments derived from commercial satellite imagery that were conducted independently by David Albright, a former United Nations weapons inspector, and Decker Eveleth, an associate research analyst at CNA, a think tank based in Washington, prove that an Israeli airstrike on Saturday targeted a structure associated with Iran’s abandoned nuclear weapons development initiative in Parchin, Reuters reported.

Israel reportedly targeted structures within the Parchin military complex, which is located near Tehran. Additionally, according to Eveleth, Israel conducted strikes on Khojir, a large missile production facility also situated near the Iranian capital.

Barak Ravid, writing for Axios and citing three Israeli sources, reported that Israel’s counterstrike on Iran successfully eliminated a vital element of Iran’s ballistic missile initiative.

Ravid’s sources indicated that Israel targeted 12 “planetary mixers” utilized in the production of solid fuel for long-range ballistic missiles, which constitute the majority of Iran’s missile inventory. A senior US official has corroborated that this strike significantly undermines Iran’s missile production capacity.

Khojir is a village outside Tehran, population 579; Parchin is an Iranian military complex located 19 miles southeast of Tehran and closely linked with Khojir’s missile production complex.

Reuters reported last July based on satellite images a significant expansion at two critical Iranian ballistic missile facilities. The growth of these sites was a consequence of an agreement made in October 2022, wherein Iran committed to supplying missiles to Russia for its ongoing war with Ukraine. Tehran also provided missiles to the Houthi rebels in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Air Defense Headquarters (PADAJA), a military command under the Joint Staff of the Iranian Army, tasked with coordinating and executing the air defense operations of both the Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, on Saturday issued a statement saying “The country’s air defense headquarters informs the honorable people of Iran that, despite previous warnings from the officials of the Islamic Republic to the criminal and illegal Israeli regime to refrain from any provocative actions, this illegitimate regime launched an attack early this morning on military sites in the provinces of Tehran, Khuzestan, and Ilam. The unified air defense system successfully intercepted and countered this aggressive action, though limited damage was incurred at some points, which is currently under investigation,”

Iran’s army noted that the Israeli warplanes used “very light warheads.”

Eveleth reported that an image captured by Planet Labs, a commercial satellite company, revealed that Israel had demolished three buildings used for mixing solid fuel for ballistic missiles, along with a warehouse, within the extensive Parchin complex. Additionally, the imagery from Planet Labs indicated that an Israeli airstrike had also targeted and destroyed two structures in the Khojir complex, which were involved in the mixing of solid fuel for ballistic missiles.

“These industrial mixers are hard to make and export-controlled. Iran imported many over the years at great expense, and will likely have a hard time replacing them,” Eveleth told Reuters.

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