Secret Iranian missile storage facility has been uncovered by an anti-regime group amid rising regional tensions

A leading Iranian dissident group, the People's Mojahedin of Iran (MEK), has provided Fox News Digital with information about a secret location where the Islamic Republic of Iran allegedly stores and prepares the missiles it uses against enemies, sells to allies, and delivers it provides proxies.

Located in a mountainous region outside the town of Eshtehard, northwest of Tehran in Alborz province, the camp, known as the Shahid (Martyr) Soltani Garrison, is heavily guarded and surrounded by two rows of barbed wire. Increased activity reportedly occurred in the second half of 2024, with the MEK noting that “more than ten trailers containing rocket parts” entered the camp in July.

Weapons stored at the site include the Shahab-3, Qiam, Fateh and Fath series of ballistic missiles, the MEK said.

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Satellite images show the Shahid Soltani garrison outside the city of Eshtehard, Iran, including large warehouses (left), a number of smaller buildings (right), and an underground tunnel with two openings (center). (NCRI/MEK)

Iran expert Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said that after its “multi-pronged attack” on Israel in April, which used about 300 drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles, the Islamic regime ” got rid of the regime.” “Low and slow flyers” and “doubled use of ballistic” weapons. Iran fired more than 180 ballistic missiles into Israeli airspace on October 1.

Taleblu noted that Iran used the same liquid fuel systems as in its attack in April, the Emad and Ghadr ballistic missiles, which are developments of the Shahab-3. He said the October attack also involved the Kheibar Shekan solid-fuel missile and reportedly even the Fattah-1 hypersonic missile. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson also confirmed to Fox News Digital that Iran's recent attacks included the Fattah-1 and Fattah-2 hypersonic missiles.

The Shahid Soltani Garrison is located in a remote mountainous region outside of Eshtehard, Iran. (NCRI/MEK)

During the major attack on Israel on October 1, two US destroyers intercepted about a dozen Iranian missiles. Neither the Pentagon nor the Defense Intelligence Agency responded to Fox News Digital's questions about whether American assets were attacked by the types of Iranian ballistic missiles said to be based at the Eshtehard site or whether the U.S. intercepted any of those missiles in the region.

To protect Israel from further attacks by Iranian ballistic missiles, the US sent its THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system to Tel Aviv, along with a cadre of 100 US soldiers to operate the system. Taleblu says THAAD will “act as a critical patch in Israel's existing, already very well-developed air missile defense,” although with only 48 interceptors, THAAD's long-term viability is “questionable,” according to Taleblu.

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Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh delivers a speech as Iran unveils its first hypersonic ballistic missile, Fattah, at an event in Tehran on June 6, 2023. (Sepah News / Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

It is not known whether the Shahid Soltani garrison stored or prepared ballistic missiles aimed at Israel. It is also not known whether the short-range ballistic missiles supplied by Iran to Russia, for which Iran has received sanctions from the U.S. Treasury and State Departments, were stored at the site.

The MEK provided satellite images showing two different sections of the Shahid Soltani garrison. Above-ground storage locations “were established at least 15 years ago” and include a segment of single-story warehouses and a three-story warehouse that together provide 6,500 square feet of storage space. About 10 buildings in another section of the garrison provide an additional 3,000 square meters of space. Between 2017 and 2021, underground tunnels were built on the site, providing additional storage space.

According to the report, the Al-Ghadir Missile Command, part of the Aerospace Forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, is responsible for the camp. IRGC brigade. General Partovi was the last known commander of the site. The MEK said that Colonel Mohammad Reza Hakimzadeh and Colonel Barati of the IRGC's Eshtehard Corps were responsible for administrative matters related to the camp.

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The report shows three single-story warehouses, a three-story warehouse and a fifth, blank warehouse, providing a total of 6,500 square meters of storage space in a segment of Shahid Soltani Garrison. (MEK/NCRI)

In 2010, the Al-Ghadir Missile Command was sanctioned by both the US and the EU. Al-Ghadir Missile Command commanders, including Mahmoud Bagheri Kazemabad and Mohammad Agha Jafari, were also the subject of US sanctions.

Ballistic missiles of probable and certain Iranian origin have previously attacked US forces. Iran-backed militias fired an unknown ballistic missile at close range at Al Asad airbase on November 21, 2023, resulting in eight injuries and damage to infrastructure.

On January 8, 2020, Iran fired 27 ballistic missiles at Al Asad Air Base. According to a medical study of the impact of the attack, 11 Fateh and Qiam missiles landed inside the US base. The missile impact resulted in approximately 35 cases of traumatic brain injury or concussion.

Jerusalem residents seek refuge during an Iranian rocket fire on October 1, 2024. (Yoav Dudkevitch/TPS-IL)

Taleblu noted that countering Iran's ballistic missile program will require multiple efforts. At the economic and political end of the spectrum, they are tackling Iran's trade with China, monitoring Iran's domestic and foreign supply chain “across the ballistic missile lifecycle,” and setting up the rotating group of people involved in the ballistic missile program. the journey of bans and sanctions. When combined with covert or kinetic operations, the above efforts “can really limit this missile program,” Taleblu explained.

Taleblu said it was important to maintain advanced missile defense systems to deter Iranian weapons, strengthen U.S. bases and ensure that “the elements of deterrence through punishment are not only in place but also understood and credible.”

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A Fateh-110 missile is shown at an undisclosed location in Tehran, Iran, circa 2010. (Vahid Reza Alaei/Iranian Defense Ministry via AP/File)

Alireza Jafarzadeh, deputy director of the Washington office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, told Fox News Digital a different approach. He stated that “true democracy in Iran and peace and tranquility in the region depend on the overthrow of the regime, a responsibility that lies with the Iranian people and their organized resistance.”

“The survival of the Iranian regime depends on exporting terrorism and belligerence while brutally repressing the Iranian people,” Jafarzadeh said. Given that “decades of appeasement have emboldened this dictatorship,” he called for the enforcement of “the terrorist status of the IRGC and the Ministry of Intelligence and Security” and recommended that “supporting Iranian youth and resistance units in confronting the IRGC is crucial Steps are “The United States and European nations must adopt it.”