by JNS Staff
The regime is rapidly reconstructing missile factories Israel targeted in June, but experts say key solid-fuel mixing equipment is absent.
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An
IDF Home Command soldier walks through rubble a day after an Iranian
ballistic missile hit in Tel Aviv, June 23, 2025. Photo by Amir
Levy/Getty Images. |
The Iranian regime has begun rebuilding missile-production sites struck by Israel during the 12-day war in June, though the facilities still appear to lack the large mixers needed to produce solid fuel for the weapons, satellite images analyzed by the Associated Press show.
The images were captured this month by Planet Labs PBC and analyzed by the news agency, which published its findings on Wednesday. The images show construction at the Parchin and Shahroud solid-fuel missile manufacturing facilities. The Islamic Republic has another site at Khojir. All three of the bases came under Israeli attack in October 2024 (“Operation Days of Repentance”) and during the June war (“Operation Rising Lion”).
👀 Iran has begun rebuilding missile-production sites targeted by Israel during its 12-day war in June, satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press show, but a key component is likely still missing — the large mixers needed to produce solid fuel for the weapons. pic.twitter.com/VsZfy3pxH9
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) September 24, 2025
Missile experts told AP that the regime in Tehran wants to obtain the mixers, particularly as it prepares for the possibility that U.N. “snapback sanctions will be reimposed. The measures would include punishment for any development of the regime’s missile program.
The mixers are critical for high-volume, efficient missile production. Iran has previously sourced planetary mixers from China, although it is unclear if they have done so since the June war.
Before the war, Iran was capable of producing more than 200 solid-fuel missiles per month, and had an estimated arsenal of about 2,500 missiles. Over a third of its arsenal was fired at Israel during and prior to the conflict.
NEW: Iran has begun reconstructing several ballistic missile facilities as part of a broader effort to rebuild its degraded ballistic missile program after the Israel-Iran War.
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) September 25, 2025
Other Key Takeaways:
An Iranian parliamentarian claimed on September 23 that Russia delivered MiG-29… pic.twitter.com/R4VkDSTQGw
“If they’re able to reacquire some key things like planetary mixers, then that infrastructure is still there and ready to get rolling again,” Sam Lair of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California told AP.
Tehran must take concrete steps to curb its nuclear program or risk the reimposition of U.N. “snapback” sanctions, the European Union’s foreign policy chief said on Tuesday.
“Diplomacy has a chance. The deadlines are running, and let’s see. We need to see some real action also on the Iranian side,” said Kaja Kallas.
Earlier on Tuesday, the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany—the so-called E3—met with their Iranian counterpart on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, joined by Kallas.
“In light of the unjustified and illegal move to begin reinstating the U.N. Security Council’s sanctions, some ideas and proposals for continuing diplomacy were raised during the meeting, and it was agreed that consultations will continue,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
Hours later, Reuters, citing a French diplomatic source, reported that Tehran has yet to meet the conditions to avert the reimposition of U.N. sanctions.
“But discussions will continue to explore all possibilities to the fullest,” the source was cited as saying. “We remain mobilized until the last moment. The ball is in Iran’s court.”
On Aug. 28, the E3 launched a 30-day process to reimpose U.N. sanctions, accusing Tehran of failing to comply with the 2015 deal designed to prevent it from developing nuclear bombs.
The European powers have offered to delay the reinstatement of sanctions for up to six months to allow room for talks on a long-term deal, provided Tehran restores access for U.N. nuclear inspectors, addresses concerns over its stockpile of enriched uranium and enters negotiations with the United States.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Tuesday rejected direct negotiations with the Trump administration, calling the prospect “a sheer dead end.
“The U.S. has announced the results of the talks in advance. The result is the closure of nuclear activities and enrichment. This is not a negotiation. It is a diktat, an imposition,” Khamenei said, according to AP.
The U.N. Security Council voted down a resolution on Sept. 19 to provide sanctions relief to the Islamic Republic.
Under Security Council Resolution 2231, which codified the 2015 Iran nuclear deal—formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action—nine Security Council members would have had to vote to lift sanctions on Iran after the E3 initiated the process to trigger the “snapback” mechanism.
Only four members of the council—Algeria, China, Pakistan and Russia—backed Iran during the vote.
As a result, absent further action from the Security Council, U.N. nuclear sanctions on Iran will be reimposed on Sept. 27.
Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister, welcomed the development on Sept. 27, stressing that “Iran’s nuclear program is not intended for peaceful purposes.
“A nuclear-armed Iran would mean that the most dangerous regime possesses the most dangerous weapon, dramatically undermining global stability and security,” he said. “The international community’s goal must remain unchanged: to prevent Iran from ever acquiring nuclear capabilities.”
JNS Staff
Source: https://www.jns.org/satellite-images-show-iran-restarting-missile-production-sites/
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