Satellite photos show the destruction of 2 Iranian bases as a result of the Israeli attack

Saturday’s attack by Israel on Iran damaged facilities at a secret military base southeast of the country’s capital, which experts in the past have linked to Tehran’s former base nuclear weapons programand another base linked to its missile program are analyzing satellite imagery Associated Press showed.

Some of the damaged buildings were located in Iran Military base in Parchinwhere the International Atomic Energy Agency suspects Iran has conducted tests of explosives capable of triggering a nuclear weapon in the past.

Iran has long insisted that its nuclear program is peaceful, although the IAEA and Western intelligence agencies say Tehran had an active weapons program until 2003.

Other damage could be seen nearby Khojir military basewhich, according to analysts, hides a system of underground tunnels and missile production sites.

Iran’s military did not claim damage in Khojir or Parchin from the Israeli attack early Saturday, although it said four Iranian soldiers working in the country’s air defense systems were killed in the attack.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment, nor did the Israeli military.

However, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday, he told the audience that the Israeli attack “should not be exaggerated or downplayed.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu separately said Sunday that Israeli strikes were “precise and powerful” and that the shelling “achieved all its objectives.”

It is unclear how many places in total were targeted by the Israeli attack. So far, the Iranian military has not released any photos of the damage.

Iranian officials identified the affected areas as being in Ilam, Khuzestan and provinces of Tehran.

On Saturday, satellite images from Planet Labs PBC showed burned fields around Iran’s Tange Bijar natural gas facility in Ilam province, although it was not immediately clear whether this was related to the attack. Ilam Province lies on the Iran-Iraq border in western Iran.

The most telling destruction can be seen in Planet Labs’ images of Parchin, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of central Tehran near the Mamalu Dam. There, one structure appeared to be completely destroyed, while others appeared to be damaged by the attack.

In Khojir, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from central Tehran, satellite images show damage to at least two structures.

Analysts including Decker Eveleth of Virginia-based think tank CNA, Joe Truzman of the Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former U.N. weapons inspector David Albright, as well as other open source experts, first identified the base damage.

The locations of both databases correspond to the videos obtained by AP showing Iranian air defense systems firing nearby early Saturday morning.

In Parchin, the Albright Institute for Science and International Security identified a destroyed building on the mountainside as “Taleghan 2”.

It said an archive of Iranian nuclear data previously seized by Israel identified the building as housing “a smaller, elongated explosives chamber and a flash X-ray system for examining small-scale explosives tests.”

“Such tests may have involved explosives compressing the natural core uraniumsimulating the initiation of a nuclear explosive,” reads the institute’s 2018 report.

In a message posted on the X social media platform on Sunday, the institute added: “It is uncertain whether Iran used uranium in ‘Taleghan 2,’ but it is possible that it studied the compression of hemispheres of natural uranium, which would explain its rash and secret renovation efforts following the IAEA request for access to Parchin in 2011.”

It is unclear what equipment was in the Taleghan 2 building early Saturday morning. There were no Israeli attacks on Iran’s oil industry, its nuclear enrichment facilities, or its nuclear power plant. Bushehr during the assault.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, who heads the IAEA, confirmed this in X, stating that “Iran’s nuclear facilities were not affected.”

“Inspectors are safe and continuing their crucial work,” he added. “I appeal for prudence and restraint in actions that could threaten the security of nuclear and other radioactive materials.”

Other buildings destroyed at Khojir and Parchin likely included a warehouse and other buildings where Iran used industrial mixers to produce the solid fuel needed for its vast arsenal of ballistic missilesEvelet said.

In a statement issued immediately after Saturday’s attack, the Israeli military said it was targeting “missile factories that produced the rockets that Iran has fired at the State of Israel over the past year.”

Destroying such sites could significantly disrupt Iran’s ability to produce new ballistic missiles to replenish its arsenal after the two attacks on Israel. Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which oversees Iran’s ballistic missile program, has been silent since Saturday’s attack.

Iran’s overall ballistic missile arsenal, which includes shorter-range missiles that cannot reach Israel, was estimated by Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, then the ballistic missile commander, at “more than 3,000.” US Army Central Commandin testimony before the US Senate in 2022. Since then, Iran has fired hundreds of missiles in a series of attacks.

No videos or photos were posted on social media showing rocket parts or destruction in civilian neighborhoods after the recent attack, suggesting that the Israeli strikes were much more accurate than Iran’s ballistic missile strikes targeting Israel in April and October. Israel relied on aircraft-launched rockets during its attack.

However, one factory appeared to be hit in Shamsabad Industrial City, south of Tehran near Imam Khomeini International Airport. Online videos showing the damaged building matched the address of a company known as TIECO, which advertises itself as building advanced machinery used in Iran’s oil and gas industry.

Iran and Israel have engaged in frequent attacks and threats over the deadly war in Gaza since October 7 last year. Israel carried out attacks on Iranian interests inside and outside Iran, while Tehran responded with several retaliatory attacks.

In July, Israel killed the head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyehduring the strike in Tehran. The firing of rockets into Israel on October 1 was in response to the assassination, as well as the assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Before the war in Gaza, Israel and Iran were involved in the so-called “shadow war” for years.