While the missiles themselves—including the Emad, Shahab-3, and Khaibar Shekan—remain safe under hundreds of meters of granite, their utility is crippled if they cannot reach the surface.
By Hezy Laing
Recent articles in the media have suggested that Iran’s underground missile cities are “impenetrable”.
Carved deep into the granite of the Zagros and Alborz mountains, these 30 or so facilities—such as the Imam Ali Base in Khorramabad and the Kenesht Canyon complex in Kermanshah—sit at depths of up to 500 meters.
This depth renders the actual storage chambers physically unreachable for even the most powerful Western munitions, like the GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP), which can only penetrate approximately 40 to 60 meters of rock or reinforced concrete.
However, the “Operation Epic Fury” and “Operation Roaring Lion” campaigns have shifted the focus from destroying the tunnels to entombing them.
By late March 2026, coalition forces had reportedly struck 77% of known tunnel entrances across nearly 30 identified missile cities.
High-resolution satellite imagery from Planet Labs and Copernicus has confirmed heavy damage to the portals of the Shiraz North, South, and West bases, effectively trapping launchers underground.
Despite these strikes, Iran has demonstrated a “rapid restoration” capability.
Footage from March 2026 showed IRGC engineering units using bulldozers to clear debris from the Yazd Missile Base just 48 hours after it was bombed for the fifth time in a month.
To counter this, U.S. and Israeli forces now use persistent drone orbits to monitor exits, striking mobile launchers the moment they emerge.
The strategic disadvantage of these bases is now their predictability.
What was once a mobile, hidden threat is now tethered to fixed, known exit points.
While the missiles themselves—including the Emad, Shahab-3, and Khaibar Shekan—remain safe under hundreds of meters of granite, their utility is crippled if they cannot reach the surface.
As of March 22, 2026, over 700 ballistic missiles have been destroyed or rendered unusable due to the destruction of surface infrastructure and launch vehicles.
