BLUNDERING Iranian top brass are watching their prized missile arsenal become entombed underground amid the US and Israel’s blitzes, insiders say.
Bunkers housing the regime’s vast collection of munitions have become a prime target – and sources say it could leave Tehran without access.
Sprawling compounds dug out away up to 1,600ft below ground from prying eyes were built by Iran to shield its suicide drones and rockets from destruction.
Constructed over several decades, the doomed Ayatollah believed they would keep his twisted weapons out of harm’s way should they be blitzed.
Iran attempted to flex its military muscle by releasing chilling propaganda showing a seemingly endless network of tunnels holding rows of bombs and Shahed drones.
Scattered across the state, the facilities house weapons including Shahah-3 missiles which have a range of up to 2,000km.
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But in yet more humiliation for the Islamic Republic’s crumbling regime, these very so-called “missile cities” have now become Donald Trump‘s focus after he vowed to obliterate the regime.
Blitzed by barrages of US and Israeli rockets, bunkers are likely largely becoming inaccessible – leaving Tehran’s valuable weapons buried.
It is understood the panicked military moved many missiles and truck launchers below ground as Trump built an armada in the Middle East in the weeks leading up to Epic Fury.
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran, told The Sun Iran’s munitions being largely wiped out of action could leave the regime fully on its knees.
“The underground bunkers and missile cities are very susceptible to US and Israeli airstrikes as they can leave the Iranian regime without access to these munitions,” he said.
“This results in the degradation of the Islamic Republic’s ability to project power beyond its borders, neutralising the threat to the US and its allies and partners.
“While this can’t cause regime change by itself, it can lay the groundwork for a weakened Islamic Republic, preoccupied with its own domestic problems as opposed to concentrating on aggression abroad.”
Khorramabad – Iran’s largest “missile city” in Lorestan province – is among sites targeted in the Washington and Jerusalem’s ongoing campaign.
Serving as a storage and launch site for surface-to-surface and cruise missiles, it was already blitzed last summer.
Iran’s significant arsenal is its main powerhouse – especially after the US and Israel decimated its air defences in the so-called 12-day war last June.
Much of the rogue nation’s equipment allowing it to fire missiles including mobile launchers and fixed ramps were also destroyed.
Satellite images emerging from Iran in recent days show the smouldering wreckages of missiles and launches destroyed by US and Israeli airstrikes near the entrances of these bunkers.
Aerial pictures of Kermanshah missile base taken on March 4 reveal heavily damaged buildings and potential damage to the tunnel entrance.
And another photo from Tabriz taken on March 1 appears to show the entrance of an underground weapon bunker collapsed.
The US and Israel are continuing to pound Iran last night with the most intense bombardment since the war began a week ago.
Israel hit 170 cities with 80 jets dropping 230 bombs, destroying an underground ballistic missile factory and a military academy.
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said it the biggest bombing campaign so far and 3,000 targets have now been hit since the start of the mission.
Meanwhile bombers have blitzed the sites with huge amounts of munitions – and appear to only be striking when they see actions, the Wall Street Journal reported.
It comes as…
Admiral Brad Cooper, American’s top commander in the Middle East, said earlier this week: “We’re hunting Iran’s last remaining ballistic missile launchers to eliminate what I would characterise as their lingering ballistic missile capability.
“We’re seeing Iran’s ability to hit us and our partners is declining.”
In the last week, Tehran has repeatedly blitzed Israel, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – which all host US bases.
Iran’s ability to unleash large salvos appears to have diminished quickly, however – signalling its military is running out of weapons, and they have lost access to hundreds of munitions.
Tehran had been flooding air defences across the Middle East in a strategy designed to overwhelm them.
But even by Wednesday, just days into the war, US Central Command said Iran’s missile launchers had dropped 86 per cent.
In yet another sure-fire sign the US and Israel have severely depleted Iran’s firing capabilities, its president today vowed to not attack Gulf nations “unless attacked first”.
Masoud Pezeshkian also shared an unprecedented apology to countries in the Middle East have been come under repeated barrages of fire since war broke out.
He said this morning: “I deem it necessary to apologise to neighbouring countries that were attacked.
“We do not intend to invade neighbouring countries.
“From now on, they should not attack neighbouring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked by those countries.”
Defiant Pezeshkian also blasted Trump’s demand for “unconditional surrender” a “dream that they should take to their grave”.
His pre-recorded address, aired on state television, comes as Middle East nations have repeatedly come under attack by Tehran’s rockets.
But Gulf countries say they have intercepted more ballistic missiles and drones launched from Iran today.
Saudi Arabia said it stopped four drones attacking the countrys massive Shaybah oil field, the second attack within hours.
Flights in and out of Dubai International Airport were interrupted after passengers were ushered down into train tunnels as several blasts were heard and the alert sounded.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes hammered Beirut and Tehran.
Trump has also approved a new $151million arms sale to Israel after saying said he would not negotiate with Iran without its surrender.