Launch of 'Third Underground Missile Factory' by the IRGC

The commander of the Aerospace Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the launch of the third underground missile production factory and promised that Iran would increase its 'missile power'. On Thursday, June 4, Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of this force, stated in the city of Dezful that the IRGC would continue to develop its missile capabilities 'alongside the defense industries of the Ministry of Defense'. Hajizadeh added that Iran does not value the 'words of American merchants' in its pursuit of missile goals. He mentioned that while Iran's 'enemies' are calling for a 'halt' to the development of the country's missile industry, the IRGC has launched its 'third underground missile production factory' in recent years. The IRGC commander did not provide further details about this underground factory but stated that Iran would produce and unveil a 'ground-to-ground ballistic missile' named 'Dezful' in the future. He claimed that the IRGC is currently 'on par with top countries in the fields of missiles and drones'. According to Hajizadeh, 'all raw materials for missile body construction, fuel production, and other items are fully sourced, designed, and produced domestically by Iranian specialists.' The IRGC's missile programs and tests have not only faced global reactions in recent years but were also implicitly criticized by Hassan Rouhani during the twelfth presidential election in Iran. Rouhani, during his election campaign, without mentioning the IRGC by name, said, 'We saw underground cities being shown to undermine the JCPOA. They wrote slogans on missiles to undermine the JCPOA.' The Iranian president's remarks referred to the display of the IRGC's missile silos on Iranian television and the writing of the slogan 'Israel must be erased from the page of time' in Hebrew on one of the tested missiles. These comments prompted a reaction from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Iran, with Masoud Jazayeri, a spokesperson for this military organization, stating that 'candidates in the twelfth presidential election should avoid controversial entries into military issues.' The IRGC unveiled its first 'missile city' in October 2015, and the commander of its aerospace force at that time stated that Iran's long-range missile bases are '500 meters deep under high mountains' and located 'in all provinces and cities' of the country. In January of the same year, the IRGC also unveiled Iran's 'second missile city'. Earlier in 2015, a senior advisor to Qassem Soleimani, the commander of the IRGC Quds Force, the IRGC's overseas branch, reported the existence of '14 underground depots at depths of 30 to 500 meters underground' in various parts of Iran for storing missile systems.