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Iran builds new underground missile factory as US votes on sanctions

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Iran has announced a new underground ballistic missile production facility, according to an Iranian media report.

Amirali Hajizadeh, head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard’s (IRGC) airspace division, announced the facility yesterday on the semi-official Fars news agency. He said the new facility is Iran’s third underground factory that “has been built by the Guards in recent years… we will continue to further develop our missile capabilities forcefully”.

He added: “Along with improving our defence capabilities, we will continue our missile tests and missile production. The next missile to be produced is a surface-to-surface missile.”

The report did not provide more details of the production facility, such as where it is located and if and how many missiles have already been produced there.

Referring to the US and Israel, Hajizadeh said that “it’s normal that our enemies… are angry when we show off our underground missile bases because they want the Iranian people to be in a position of weakness”.

The announcement follows White House calls for newly re-elected President Hassan Rouhani to end Iran’s ballistic missiles programme, after the President said on Monday that “Iran does not need the permission of the United States to conduct missile tests”.

On his recent visit to the Middle East, US President Donald Trump accused Iran of fuelling conflict and terrorism across the region.

Most nuclear-related sanctions on Iran were lifted last year after Tehran fulfilled commitments under a 2015 deal with international powers to scale back its nuclear programme.

In related news, last night the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed legislation that would tighten sanctions against Iran.

The legislation passed with bipartisan support after committee members agreed that tougher steps needed to be taken against Iran’s destabilising actions. Those include ongoing ballistic missile tests.

The bill would impose new mandatory sanctions against people involved with Iran’s ballistic missile programme. It would also impose terrorism sanctions against IRGC figures and block assets of people who trade in prohibited arms with Iran.