Iran ‘building nuclear missiles with 3,000km range at sites disguised as satellite launch bases'
Iran is
The National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), which has previously exposed details of Tehran's top secret uranium enrichment facilities, has shared information on how the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are
The exiled opposition group say that two sites camouflaged as communication satellite launch facilities have been used to rush the production of nuclear warheads.
They are both under the control of the Organisation for Advanced Defence Research (SPND), the regime's nuclear weapons arm.
'The Iranian mullahs are masters of lies, deception, and evasion. For over two decades, they have used negotiations and the West's leniency as a means to advance their nuclear weapons programme,
'Tehran has never been as weak and vulnerable as it is today. The desperate Iranian regime is thus speeding up the development of nuclear weapons.'
'Now is the time to hold the regime accountable for internal killings, regional warmongering, and nuclear weapons development,' she added.
At the first site, known as the Shahrud missile site, about 35km from a city of the same name, SPND and IRGC Aerospace Force experts have been working on producing a nuclear warhead capable of being fitted to a Ghaem-100, solid-fuelled rocket with a range of 3,000km.
Missiles with that range would allow Iran to launch nuclear strikes deep into Europe from its territory – as far as the likes of Italy, Greece, Poland and Slovakia, and
There have been at least three successful launches of the rocket, which the NCRI says 'enhances the regime's capability to deploy nuclear weapons'.
The IRGC has also announced plans to test more advanced Ghaem-105 rockets in the coming months.
Previous tests at the site were conducted as satellite launches as the rockets were described as 'satellite carriers' to conceal the regime's alleged nuclear missile programme, the NCRI says.
Satellite images show a large concrete platform from which mobile launch vehicles can fire the rockets skywards.
Nearby, there are clusters of buildings where the research is believed to be used for research purposes.
A second site, situated around 70km southeast of the city of Semnan, is being used to develop Simorgh missiles, a weapon based on North Korean designs.
The designs are similar to the North Korean UNHA-1, an 18-metre tall rocket, which Pyongyang says is an expendable rocket for carrier equipment into space.
Significant portions of the site are based underground to conceal the work from intelligence satellites capturing images of the area.
To further obscure the military purpose of the Semnan missile site, the regime named it the Imam Khomeini site after Iran's space organisation and carried out ballistic missile launches under the guise of satellite launches.
The regime has been steadily expanding the site since around 2005, with six new structures emerging on satellite imagery over the last decade.
Images shared by the NCRI show a large section of ground in the northeastern corner of the Semnan site being excavated in 2009.
As progress continues concrete foundations could be seen being erected in the hole.
Images from 2012 of the same section of the base show the structure entirely covered with dirt.
According to the NCRI, activities by the SPND, including its geophysics department, which specialises in monitoring underground explosions from nuclear warhead productions, have intensified.
Journalists were once permitted to visit the site, where they witnessed IRGC soldiers dressed in civilian clothes, but had their photographs confiscated by regime enforcers, with only a handful of selected images released.
Both sites have been designated military facilities and follow strict security protocols to avoid unwanted guests discovering what work is being undertaken at them.
Workers at the sites arrive at an external perimeter gate, often dozens of kilometres from the main facilities, in their private cars from Tehran and other cities.
From the checkpoint, the employees are bussed in by the IRGC to ensure maximum security.
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NBC News
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- NBC News
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NBC News
2 days ago
- NBC News
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Scottish Sun
2 days ago
- Scottish Sun
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Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) THERE is "no doubt" Iran would use a nuclear bomb on its enemies, a female activist has revealed. IT researcher Fereshteh, from Tehran, warned the "crisis-stricken regime" is clinging on to power by forcing its people to live in extreme poverty and ramping up executions. 15 People light a fire during a protest over the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who died after being arrested Credit: Reuters 15 A woman shouts in desperation as she protests against the Iranian regime - in front of an NCRI flag Credit: AP 15 Iran's resistance units carry out activities such as destroying symbols of the regime Credit: YouTube/PMOI 15 The regime has been ramping up executions in a bid to control dissent, according to Fereshteh Credit: AFP Speaking to The Sun, Fereshteh, 35, revealed that she joined a resistance unit of the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran after the regime tortured and executed her beloved sister. Hundreds of resistance units have been set up all over the country - aimed at undermining the regime's authority. Members organise and lead protests, destroying statues and images of regime leaders and documenting human rights abuses. Fereshteh revealed the situation in Iran is a "powder-keg" and a "ticking time bomb" ready to explode as Iranians grow angrier than ever at repression, corruption and high prices. She says things are worse now than in September 2022 when the death of a Kurdish girl named Mahsa Amini triggered mass protests. Outraged citizens in more than 280 cities in 31 provinces of Iran took to the streets and brought the mullahs' regime to the brink of collapse. Fereshteh said: "There was the massacre of more than 750 innocent people by the State Security Forces, which were in fact street executions. "More than 30,000 arrests involved torture and heavy bails for release, sometimes rape. "And the abandonment of bodies in rivers or unfinished buildings, sometimes poisoning people with tainted juice or toxic serums in prisons, and the intentional failure to care for sick or tortured prisoners that led to their death, and many other crimes, the protests continued for months. "The outraged people had nothing more to lose. "After that, the regime tried hard to impose an atmosphere of repression by increasing executions and creating a suffocating environment." My dad has been sentenced to death in Iran on trumped-up charges and faces imminent execution - we must save him 15 Fareshteh joined a resistance unit to avenge her sister Credit: PMOI/MEK 15 There a resistance units like Fareshteh's all over Iran Credit: YouTube/PMOI 15 Protests in Iran in 2022 where demonstrators changed 'death to the dictator' in response to a building collapse Fareshteh said there was a 34 per cent increase in executions in 2023 - with 860 in one year. In 2024, there were at least 1,000 - and this year, new records are being set month by month. "Now the situation is worse than before," Fareshteh said. "Inflation is crippling, and while people's salaries and incomes have not changed much, the exchange rate has risen. "The Iranian people are almost four times poorer, and prices have increased by the same amount, most people's tables are getting smaller every year, and more are living below the poverty line." Fereshteh said the regime's brutality towards its own people has increased since the Syrian tyrant Bashar al-Assad was ousted by rebels last December. "This regime has no solution other than increasing executions at home, especially after the fall of the Syrian dictator and the successive blows to its proxy forces in the region," she said. The mullahs' regime tortured and executed my innocent sister, even burying her body themselves, creating lasting trauma for my family that I will never forget or forgive Fareshten, resistance unit member "Ali Khamenei, the regime's Supreme Leader, used to call Syria, its strategic depth, and he repeatedly said that if we don't fight in Syria and Iraq, we will have to face the enemy in Iran's major cities. "Now, the regime sees its only way out in trying harder to build nuclear weapons and acquire a bomb. "In the absence of any solution in the crisis-stricken mullah regime, the situation in Iran is like a powder keg. "And everyone, even the regime's leaders, constantly warn about the explosion of people's outrage from repression, corruption, and high prices. "The difference is that the people of Iran, especially the youth, know that the regime has never been in its current state of weakness." Fareshteh revealed how her activities for her resistance unit include painting political graffiti and encouraging others to stand against the regime. 15 Iranians protests the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini after she was detained by the morality police Credit: AP 15 Mahsa Amini, 22, died from beating by cops Credit: Newsflash She said she joined the unit to avenge her sister's death which she will neither "forget or forgive". Being a member of the resistance in Iran can carry a death sentence, but Fareshteh remains undeterred. She said: "I am the continuer and avenger of my beloved sister, who was the top student in her high school in mathematics and physics. "The mullahs' regime tortured and executed my innocent sister, even burying her body themselves, creating lasting trauma for my family that I will never forget or forgive. "I carry out activities involving posting pictures and doing graffiti, and I speak to and raise awareness among the people about the social responsibility that rests on all of us. "International support is very important. At one time, the regime's lobbies deceived foreign countries by pretending that everything was fine in Iran." 'Murderous regime' She added: "In the 2022 uprising, technology unveiled the countless crimes of the corrupt and murderous regime. "International solidarity will press Western governments to stop appeasing and dealing with this dictatorship." Fareshteh's comments comes after the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) presented shocking details about a covert nuclear weapons facility operated by the regime. Chilling satellite pictures released last month showed a secret nuclear site codenamed "Rainbow". It is believed the base is being used to develop nuclear missiles with a 2,000 mile (3,000km) range. 15 A 'morality police' van was reportedly set on fire in Tehran during protests in 2022 Credit: Newsflash 15 Hundreds took the streets over Mahsa's brutal death Credit: Twitter 15 Aerial pictures show a secret based believed to be developing nuclear weapons Credit: NCRI The NCRI say that Tehran is using oil and chemical facilities as a front to create terrifying nuclear weapons with the ability to strike US bases in the Middle East. Feresteh says the discovery of the base comes as no surprise as the regime's goal has always been to acquire an atomic bomb to "blackmail" the international community. "Repression at home and the export of terrorism and fomenting crisis have been one of the foundations of this regime's survival since its inception," she said. Now, the regime sees its only way out in trying harder to build nuclear weapons and acquire a bomb Fareshteh, resistance unit member "In the past two years, everyone has seen that the main obstacle to peace and security in the region has been the mullah regime. "After the fall of the Assad dictatorship... the only way out it sees is to increase executions at home and increase its activities to acquire an atomic bomb as a lever to continue blackmail the international community. "This regime has not stopped trying to acquire a bomb for even a day. "And the recent revelation... clearly exposes the regime's unreliability and deception in its pursuit of a bomb." Iran's secret nuke site 'Rainbow' Exclusive by Katie Davis, Chief Foreign Reporter (Digital) CHILLING satellite pictures reveal Iran's sprawling secret nuclear site codenamed "Rainbow". Sources in the country have uncovered how the base is being used to develop nuclear-capable missiles with a 2,000-mile range - able to strike US bases in the Middle East. Tehran's tyrannical regime is using oil and chemical facilities as a cover for nuclear bases, bombshell docs shared with The Sun by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) reveal. Haunting aerial images expose a network of clandestine sites - including "Rainbow" - used by iron-fist leaders to create terrifying nuclear weapons. A powerful nuclear blast from Iran could have disastrous consequences for the Middle East - and beyond - thanks to the capability of the warheads. Now sources inside Iran have revealed the regime's nuclear weaponisation entity, Organization of Defensive Innovation and Research's (SPND) secret project to accelerate nuclear ability. Hidden under the guise of a chemical production facility, the crowning jewel of the operation is a base known internally as the 'Rangin Kaman (Rainbow) Site". It is some distance from Iran's already known nuke bases, and is masked as a chemical production company known as Diba Energy Siba. READ MORE HERE 'Fighting spirit' Fereshteh said that despite facing "unprecedented repression and executions" the regime has failed to contain protests and even executions are not intimidating the public as they once did. She told how the political prisoners at some of Iran's most notorious prisons have been on hunger strike every Tuesday for 68 weeks as a protest against the death penalty. "Every week, their statement, which is courageously smuggled out of prison and published, speaks of their fighting spirit and loyalty to their commitment to freedom and the rejection of the death penalty," Fereshteh said. "Imagine that they are trapped in the prisons of religious fascism, but despite all the pressure the regime exerts on them, these strikes have continued for 68 weeks. "The people's anger and hatred grow stronger each day. "During the uprisings, I witnessed young girls, and even elderly women remove their hijabs when passing by the oppressors, signaling their defiance. "The intensity of this anger has reached a point where the regime no longer dares to harass women for not wearing hijabs as aggressively as before." Call for support Fereshteh has now called on the governments of the US and UK to "stand with the Iranian people" to prevent the regime completing its nuclear programme. She said: "The British government must immediately activate the trigger mechanism to prevent the regime from having more time to complete its nuclear program. "Since this regime will under no circumstances abandon its efforts to produce a bomb, this again underscores the necessity for the West to stand with the main opposition to this regime and the people of Iran and to provide political support for their efforts to change the regime." 15 Ali Khamenei, supreme leader of Iran Credit: Shutterstock Editorial 15 She added: "Not a day passes without various segments of the population - retirees, workers, teachers, nurses, medical staff, students, and those whose wealth has been plundered by IRGC-affiliated gangs - taking to the streets to protest against the regime. "Moreover, the increasing demonstrations from farmers and factories and businesses facing ongoing water and power shortages illustrate that we are witnessing an explosive society. "Today, in Iran, there is no segment of society whose patience has not run out with this anti-people regime. "The regime has managed to maintain its grip on power solely through blatant repression and a daily increase in executions. "For decades, the people of Iran have watched with disbelief and pain the leniency and wrong policies of the West towards a regime that is the main cause of instability and warmongering in the region and terrorism globally. "No one here doubts that the ruling fascist regime must go, and the only way to end the crimes at home and the warmongering, terrorism, and support for terrorist forces abroad is to end this regime. "This is achievable. "Our expectation from the international community is to stand with the people and resistance of Iran."
