Oct 27, V7N- Recent commercial satellite images suggest that Israeli airstrikes targeted critical Iranian military facilities involved in missile production on Saturday. According to assessments by David Albright, a former U.N. weapons inspector, and Decker Eveleth, a research analyst at CNA, the strikes hit specific structures at Parchin and Khojir, two major military sites near Tehran known for their missile-related activities.
 
Eveleth stated that Israeli jets conducted precision attacks on buildings at both locations. At Khojir, satellite imagery from Planet Labs indicated that the strike destroyed two buildings associated with solid-fuel mixing, critical in missile production. Enclosed by protective dirt berms, these structures are typically designed to contain blasts and prevent the ignition of nearby combustible materials. At Parchin, additional Planet Labs images revealed damage to three buildings used in solid-fuel mixing, reportedly reducing Iran's missile manufacturing capabilities significantly.
 
Albright confirmed damage to buildings at Parchin, close to an older site tied to Iran's alleged nuclear weapons program, which U.S. and U.N. sources say ceased in 2003. Israel’s military stated that the strikes on these and other sites across Tehran and western Iran were in retaliation for Iran's October 1 missile attack on Israel.
 
Iran's military reported that Israeli jets deployed “very light warheads” to target radar systems in Ilam, Khuzestan, and near Tehran. Analysts believe that Israel’s precise targeting may disrupt Iran’s capacity to mass-produce missiles, as the destroyed mixers—hard to replace and export-controlled—are integral to missile manufacturing.
 
This escalation highlights Israel's strategic focus on curtailing Iran's missile arsenal, the largest in the Middle East, which reportedly supplies missiles to Russia, Yemen’s Houthis, and Hezbollah in Lebanon. Although Tehran and Moscow deny any missile transactions, recent satellite analyses by Eveleth and Middlebury Institute’s Jeffrey Lewis show extensive expansions at Khojir, supporting Iran’s missile production ambitions. Three Iranian officials have reportedly confirmed this assessment of missile production expansion.
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