Iranian state television showed tunnels lined with what it said were a new version of the Taregh-class radar-evading boats, which can launch cruise missiles. It also broadcast footage of the boats firing missiles at targets at sea.
Iran has discovered an underground naval base capable of fighting “enemies big and small.” Footage broadcast on state television shows a large number of boats lined up in what appears to be an underground tunnel. It is said to be part of a “secret” base built 500 meters deep in an undisclosed location in the Gulf. State television showed Revolutionary Guards chief General Hossein Salami visiting the base with the commander of the navy, Rear Admiral Alireza Tangsiri. It comes as Iranian leaders fear that US President-elect Donald Trump, who will take over from Joe Biden after his inauguration in Washington later this month, could empower Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike Iran’s nuclear facilities.
IRAN’S NEW BASE
In the footage, General Salami said the base was one of several built underground for ships capable of launching long-range missiles and conducting long-distance warfare. “We assure the great nation of Iran that their young men are capable of emerging honorably and victorious from a battle at sea against enemies big and small,” he said.
State television showed long tunnels lined with what it said were a new version of the radar-evading Taregh-class boats, which can launch cruise missiles. It also broadcast footage of the boats firing missiles at targets at sea. “The massive amount (of equipment) we saw today is a small part of the power of the Revolutionary Guards’ naval force, developed in recent years,” General Salami said.
AXIS OF RESISTANCE
Iran has recently conducted military exercises amid speculation of an Israeli attack, with the Guard holding two air defense drills near the main nuclear facilities at Natanz and Fordow. Israel and Iran have been exchanging attacks since the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, with neither side seeming to want a full-scale conflict. The past year has seen Iranian proxy forces including in Gaza (Hamas), Lebanon (Hezbollah) and Yemen (Houthi rebels) attack Israeli and other Western assets in the Region as part of the so-called Axis of Resistance in retaliation for the situation in Gaza – where, according to local authorities, more than 46,000 people are reported to have been killed in Israel’s 15-month military campaign.
“IRON WALL”
Israel launched the Iron Wall military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin. “On the recommendation of the Political Security Cabinet, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Shin Bet and the Israel Police launched today a large and significant military operation, called Iron Wall – to combat terrorism in Jenin,” the Israeli prime minister said. The situation in the Middle East also appears to have been tense due to several recent escalations by Israel. “We are acting systematically and decisively against the Iranian axis wherever it stretches its hands: in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Syria, in Yemen, in Judea and Samaria. And it doesn’t stop there,” Netanyahu added.
The operation, dubbed the Iron Wall, is expected to last several days. The Palestinian National Authority’s Health Ministry reported that the current death toll in Jenin is six dead and 35 wounded. On the third day of the ceasefire in Gaza, the Israeli army and Shin Bet announced that they had launched a counter-terrorism operation in the West Bank. A drone struck the city. Palestinian residents reported alarms after the arrival of an Israeli special force and IDF vehicles entering from the Dotan checkpoint. The aim of the operation is to destroy and neutralize terrorist infrastructure and “time bombs.”
