Evidence points to Iranian work on long-range missiles at secret base — report

US weapons researchers found activity at a remote facility in the Iranian desert that points towards development of long-range missiles which could give Iran the reach to hit Europe or the United States, the New York Times reports Wednesday.

Satellite images appear to show, among other things, activity around a tunnel leading underground and evidence of powerful rocket engine tests that scorched telltale marks in the desert sand near to the city of Shahrud.

Although there are currently no international agreements restricting the range of Iranian missiles, US President Donald Trump had insisted that limitations be included in changes he wanted to make in the landmark 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which he eventually pulled the US out of on May 12.

According to the report, researchers from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey watched a recent Iranian documentary about rocket scientist Gen. Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, a leading figure in the country’s missile development program who was killed in a devastating 2011 explosion at Iran’s main research facility near the town of Bidganeh. Based on details in the documentary they came to the conclusion that before he died Moghaddam had helped set up another facility that is still operational.

— Stuart Winer