Iran unveils new underground missile base amid rising tensions with US and Israel. Photo: Screenshot

Iran has revealed a new underground missile base, which officials claim symbolizes Tehran’s growing “Iron Fist,” equipped with thousands of precision-strike missiles to bolster its military power amid rising tensions with the United States and Israel.

The Aerospace Division of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), a state military force and internationally designated terrorist organization, revealed the underground base, which Iranian media described as a “missile megacity,” on Tuesday.

This is the third facility of its kind to be revealed in under a month, highlighting the expansion of Iran’s military capabilities — or at least its attempts to put on a brave face for the world.

According to Janatan Sayeh, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), a Washington, DC-based think tank, the regime’s recent missile displays and military drills serve a dual purpose: bolstering domestic support through propaganda while reinforcing its psychological warfare against the US and Israel.

“While Iran inflates its military capabilities, its ballistic missile program remains the primary threat,” Sayeh told The Algemeiner.

However, he also explained that “Iran’s air and naval forces lag significantly behind their American and Israeli counterparts,” posing little challenge to the superior firepower of the US Navy or the Israeli fleet.

WATCH: Iran’s IRGC unveils what it claims is its largest ‘underground missile city,’ housing thousands of precision-guided missiles. pic.twitter.com/RzZLxJzJgp

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) March 25, 2025

According to Iranian state media, some of Tehran’s newly unveiled missiles are capable of defeating the United States’ THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system, with some of them designed to evade the system.

“Iran’s Iron Fist is far stronger [today] than before,” Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces, Major General Mohammad Bagheri, said in a speech.

“All the [defensive] dimensions that are required for generating a [military] capability that is ten times [stronger than] the one deployed during Operation True Promise II, have been created,” the commander said during the unveiling, referring to the regime’s name for its ballistic-missile attack against Israel in October.

Although the Islamic Republic has the largest missile arsenal in the Middle East, Sayeh explained that its limitations became evident during the October missile barrage targeting the Jewish state.

“Much like its naval swarm tactics, the regime’s missile strategy hinges on overwhelming adversaries — whether the US Navy or Israel’s David’s Sling and Arrow defense systems,” Sayeh told The Algemeiner.

Last April, Iran launched what was then an unprecedented direct attack on Israeli soil. In that attack, Iran fired some 300 missiles and drones at Israel, nearly all of which were downed by the Jewish state and its allies.

The failed assault, dubbed by Tehran as “Operation True Promise,” was in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike on the Iranian consulate in Syria’s capital of Damascus that killed seven IRGC members, including two senior commanders.

At the time, Iranian officials said the operation showcased “Iran’s ability to strike Israeli military and intelligence targets with surgical accuracy,” adding that they had only deployed a fraction of their firepower.

Iran’s second direct attack on Israel in October came after Israeli forces killed several top leaders of Hamas and Hezbollah, both terrorist proxies of the Iranian regime, including the assassination of Hamas’s political chief in Tehran.

According to Sayeh, Tehran views sheer numbers as a way to compensate for its technological shortcomings.

“If Iran were to meaningfully intensify its ballistic missile attacks in the future, it could inflict significant damage with a sufficient volume of projectiles,” Sayeh told The Algemeiner.

“Recognizing this threat, Israel has already targeted missile stockpiles and is likely to do so again should a new round of direct military confrontation arise between the two countries.”

Israel responded in late October to Iran’s second attack with a sophisticated three-wave strike that targeted Iranian missile production sites and air defenses, leaving Tehran vulnerable and crippling its key defensive capabilities.

According to Israeli defense sources, the operation also significantly hindered Iran’s missile systems and production capacity, reducing its ability to launch large-scale attacks. The Islamist regime’s ballistic missile program will need at least a year to recover from the strikes, experts said after the strikes.

Against a backdrop of escalating regional tensions, the US gave Tehran a two-month ultimatum earlier this month to reach a nuclear agreement, warning of severe consequences if it refuses.

During the unveiling of the new underground missile base this week, Iran’s military chief said that the Islamic Republic was advancing its defensive capabilities at a much faster rate than its enemies’ recovery.

“The enemy will definitely fall behind in this balance of power,” Bagheri said during his speech.

Last week, the IRGC deployed advanced missile systems on the islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa, reinforcing its military presence in the Persian Gulf. These islands are located along a critical maritime route for global energy transit, with more than one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passing through the strategic corridor.

According to Iranian state media, these islands are now equipped with “dozens of missile defense and air defense systems.” Additionally, the IRGC’s fast-attack and assault vessels patrolling the Persian Gulf are “armed with new cruise missiles and ready for operations” capable of targeting naval assets.

In an effort to counter Tehran’s expanding military position, Washington has reinforced its naval presence in the region by dispatching additional amphibious assault ships and support vessels to mitigate the risk of Iranian threats to the free flow of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz.