Iran unveils "ready" underground missile silos

In front of a portrait of the Iranian supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad gestures at a gathering at the Azadi (Freedom) sport complex in Tehran, Iran, June 26, 2011. / AP Photo

Updated at 2:53 p.m. ET

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran on Monday unveiled underground missile silos for the first time as it kicked off 10 days of large-scale war games, the country's latest show of military force amid a standoff with the West over its disputed nuclear program.

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State TV broadcast footage of deep underground silos, claiming that medium- and long-range missiles stored in them are ready to launch in case of an attack on Iran. The sites are widely viewed as a strategic asset for Iran to launch a strike in the event of a U.S. or Israeli attack on its nuclear facilities.

Col. Asghar Qelichkhani, a spokesman for the war games, said the silos "function as a swift-reaction unit."

"Missiles, which are permanently in the vertical position, are ready to hit the pre-determined targets," he was quoted as saying by state TV.

An officer in Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, which is in charge of the missile program, said Tehran has constructed "numerous" underground missile silos which satellites can't detect. He did not elaborate.

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The state television report broadcast footage of underground launching pads for the Shahab-3 missile, which have a range of more than 1,240 miles - putting Israel, U.S. bases in the Gulf region and parts of southeastern and eastern Europe within reach.

The report also showed pictures of missiles being fired from one silo after a large metal roof opened to allow the missile to launch. The TV report said the missile silos are linked to a missile control center.

Another unidentified Guards officer told state TV that "only few countries in the world possess the technology to construct underground missile silos. The technology required for that is no less complicated than building the missile itself."

Israel has accused Iran of receiving assistance from North Korea in building underground missile sites.

But Col. Qelichkhani said the silos are based on local technology developed by Iranian experts.

The Iranian war games, which began Monday, are dubbed "The Great Prophet Six" and include tests of long-range missiles such as the Sajjil, which boasts a range similar to that of the Shahab-3 missile.

Iran conducts several war games every year, as part of its military self-sufficiency program that started in 1992, and frequently unveils new weapons and military systems during the drills.

[samXXkiley]

coucou,
enfantillages,
tout le monde sait que le principal soucis de Ahmadinejad, est l'armement, au d?triment d'autres secteurs,
? travers ses d?monstrations, Ahmadinejad veut impressionner le monde,
mais surtout d?tourner l'attention de son peuple, des probl?mes internes que vit l'Iran


.............
childish,
everyone knows that the major concerns of Ahmadinejad, is arming, at the expense of other sectors,
through his demonstrations, Ahmadinejad wants to impress the world
but also divert attention from his people, of internal problems experienced by Iran
"au revoir"

[alex_glaz]

This is a tactical show of force to warn against any thought of possible attack by Israel. Iran is vulnerable to air attacks because it has too many high value targets and it could only use these defensive means as the last resort. The question to be asked is why attack Iran in the first place? Is it to appease the Israeli war mongers at the cost of American lives and treasury? Why of course, it is the American duty to pay for, nourish and sponsor the Israelis. Our elected congressmen have chosen to put Israelis' interests ahead of fellow Americans who, by the way, are on the verge of bankruptcy and by some estimates, 30% live below poverty line.

[Jim1900]

If Iran wants to avoid being attacked, the best way is for Ahmadinejad to stop threatening Israel and to resolve all the questions about their nuclear program. Obviously they are not willing to do so, which raises the risk for everyone in the region.

I don't think the U.S. is going to intervene directly, since the Neocons (remember them?) pretty much wore out the public's interest in preemptive wars. Too bad we had to spend $3T invading the wrong country to do it though, especially while allowing N. Korea to develop the real nukes, not the imaginary Cheney ones.

[fantomas4]

Oh no. So, are we going to send our troops there next? Probably not, because China has solid trade agreements with them. Wouldn't want to stop the gravy train of debt that we owe to China, now would we? Still, If Iran wipes out Israel, you wont see me shed a tear. I just hope that the U.S. learns from it's past mistakes and stops funding Middle East terrorists who are no better than their neighbors. I'm not holding my breath, though.

[Fatesrider]

And the US has already deployed weapons systems that will destroy strategic missiles in the lift-off phase from over 100 miles away.

Why the right wing-nuts have their panties in a bunch about this is beyond me. Maybe they'll get so angry they'll stroke out. One can hope...

[bajajohn1]

Question here is why the right wing-nuts such paranoid cowards?

[ALBrainTrust13]

The's right, the Left hopes the other side will die. Imagine if a Winger had said that.

BTW....What if Iran gives a nuke to one of it's sponsored terror groups?

Also....Us Wingers are smart enough to know that an anti-missile system is not 100% effective. All it takes is ONE NUKE to get through.

So.... Iran must be stopped from developing nuclear weapons...PERIOD.

[lagunagal]

History will record Iran became a nuclear socio-psychopathic nation under Obama's watch and his administration. This statement requires no response because it is truth and history will record it as such. Hey I've got an idea, let's go after those pesky Libyan's. You can't make this stuff up.

[Jim1900]

You get your history from Rush. Everyone else will recall that their nuclear push first came to light while W. was invading Iraq. He also allowed North Korea to develop nukes. Who knows what else they are supplying to Iran?

[bajajohn1]

And North Korea, history shows, became a nucler socio-physcopathic nation under George Bush, Jr.

[taylorsucram]

So Iran plans to perfect a delivery system for their "Nukes". A country that created Abu Graib, Guantanamo Bay, the secret prisons and prison ships around the world, a country that launched two recent wars on faked justifications and killed more than a million civilians, a country that overthrew 13 legitimate democracies, and that installed and financed 42 bloody and brutal dictatorships around the world, shouldn't be shooting off too loudly about human rights violations and Iran; there are still murderers with badges, guilty of lynchings, running around free.

Oh, by the way, Asians have a loooong memory. The "Opium Poppy" is not and was never native-to-China. The British (read White-man) introduced it in order to addict the population and control the tea-silk-spice trade. Now the Chinese own us lock-stock and barrel. They are in Africa, the Mid-East and South America. Guess how it's going to end?

ALL IS GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN. AS-SALAAM-ALAIKUM.

[tellingthestory]

Another failure in the long list of failures for Obama. Hey they America people only cares he can lie his ass off and look good doing it. That is all that counts in an American idol world.

[meshine]

It amazes how dum some people are at the blame game. You might have been just in blaming Obama if Iran, North Korea, Syria and probably others had just started work on their Nuclear programs 2 1/2 years ago when Obama became President but they have been working on their nuclear programs since before Clinton.

[wfw3536]

Obama and his administration said a few months ago they were going to be tough on Iran. I guess Iran didn't get the message.

[cbsnacilbuper]

I am sure a stern letter was sent. I bet they have not received it yet, ya that's the ticket.

[Jim1900]

by Birdman04 June 27, 2011 4:11 PM EDT
Total B.S. We are the only nation in the world who dropped a nuclear device on innocent civilian man, women and harmless babies to prove a point.

Why were they innocent, because they weren't carrying a gun? Do you think they were in favor of letting us invade their islands without resistance in order to bring peace and tranquility? Are you awake?

[Birdman04]

Your idiotic logic escapes me.

Again I repeat you moron that we are the only nation in the world to purposely target, with the intend to massacre, innocent civilian men, women and children. They were not military targets or armed soldiers. They were helpless unarmed individuals caught up in a tragic war who did not deserve to be annihilated just so we could test our new "neat" little weapon of mass destruction.

You obviously to not grasp the concept of killing innocent people nor do you I suspect have the brains God gave a screw driver.

Twist or spin it anyway you want our country in the not to distant past, cowardly murdered tens of thousands of innocent people in a war already won against a nation thoroughly defeated. Your lame attempt at changing history is pathetic. Got milk?

[meshine]

Thanks Birdman for your earnesty. Japan was on the verge of defeat when we dropped the A Bomb on them. The U S Government reasoning for dropping the bomb was that to allow the war to continue would cost more innocent Japanese/American lives. They reasoned that to dropped the bomb to end the war now would save countless lives but apparently they were ignorant to the overall carnage the bomb would cause when dropped on a civilian population.

[Birdman04]

Watch the bed wetting wimps start hiding under the beds demanding that we "nuke" Iran before the "nuke" us. Everyone has nukes.

[Birdman04]

I rest my case.