Satellite images show that airstrikes hit Iran’s remote “Eagle 44” underground air force base, located in a mountainous area in the country’s south.
The strikes happened at the end of March, but the attack has not previously been reported.
The imagery, reviewed by The New York Times, shows impact craters at and near the tunnel entrances to aircraft shelters, which are concealed under a mountain ridge; the damage from the strikes appears to have disabled access to the runway, trapping any aircraft inside. A building related to the ongoing construction at the base was also destroyed.
The satellite imagery also showed several small earth mounds or similar obstacles on the runway, which Iranian forces appeared to have set up to prevent the landing of enemy planes.
The Times reviewed multiple satellite images from March that showed new damage at the taxiways at the end of the month. Some of the tunnel entrances were struck already earlier in the conflict. While bystanders often film strikes on military facilities, in this case, only satellites appear to have recorded the damage to the facility.
The U.S. and Israeli militaries did not respond to requests for comment on the strike.
Construction for the underground site, located in the southern Hormozgan Province, about 100 miles north of the Strait of Hormuz, started in mid-2013, and building of an airstrip followed eight years later. Iranian state media released footage in 2023 that showed fighter jets and drones at the underground base.
Christoph Koettl is a Times reporter on the Visual Investigations team.
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