Iran Loses Solid-Fuel Rocket Engine Production in Shahrud, Satellite Images Confirm

Iran has lost a key facility for producing solid-fuel rocket engines for ballistic missiles in the city of Shahrud.

Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), reported on this.

His assessment is based on satellite images showing that the plant’s facilities were destroyed during airstrikes carried out by the Israeli Air Force as part of a joint military operation with the United States Armed Forces.

Satellite imagery from Airbus shows that nearly every building at the site has been damaged, with many completely destroyed.

The facility housed production lines used to mix solid rocket fuel components and to cast rocket engines used in Iranian ballistic missiles.

The plant in Shahrud is a key facility of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) for producing ballistic missiles. The site is considered strategic.

The first confirmations of damage to the facility appeared on March 8. At that time, the Israel Defense Forces stated that they had struck a major IRGC missile plant which, according to their claim, produced “the vast majority” of the rockets Iran used to attack Israeli territory.