Two secretive Iranian military bases were damaged in an Israeli attack, reported news agency The Associated Press citing satellite photos.
As per the Planet Labs satellite images, some of the buildings damaged sat in Iran’s Parchin military base, where the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) suspects Tehran in the past had conducted nuclear weapon tests.
The other damage could be seen at the nearby Khojir military base, which analysts believe hides an underground tunnel system and missile production sites, said the report.
At Khojir, 20 kilometres away from downtown Tehran, damage could be seen on at least two structures in satellite images, it said.
However, Iran has not acknowledged any damage at either Khojir or Parchin military base from Israel’s attack. Although it said the assault killed four Iranian soldiers working in the air defence systems.
It remains unclear how many sites in total were targeted in the Israeli attack on Saturday.
Iranian authorities have identified affected areas as being in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces.
Burned fields could be seen in satellite images from Planet Labs PBC around Iran’s Tange Bijar natural gas production site in Ilam province on Saturday, though it wasn’t immediately clear if it was related to the attack, said the AP report.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday told an audience that the Israeli attack “should not be exaggerated nor downplayed.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Israel’s strikes “severely harmed” Iran and that the barrage “achieved all its goals.”
In a statement issued immediately after the attack Saturday, the Israeli military said it targeted “missile manufacturing facilities used to produce the missiles that Iran fired at the state of Israel over the last year.”
Destroying such sites could greatly disrupt Iran’s ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles to replenish its arsenal after the two attacks on Israel.
In a post on X, Rafael Mariano Grossi, who leads the IAEA, said: “Iran’s nuclear facilities have not been impacted.”
“Inspectors are safe and continue their vital work,” he added. “I call for prudence and restraint from actions that could jeopardise the safety & security of nuclear & other radioactive materials.”
