People’s Daily republished a commentary from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Daily asserting that Iran’s extensive network of underground missile facilities played a decisive role in preserving its retaliatory capabilities during the recent conflict with Israel and the United States. According to the article, despite repeated U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, Iran’s underground missile infrastructure enabled it to maintain operational resilience and continue launching retaliatory strikes.
The commentary states that Iran began constructing large-scale underground missile complexes after the Iran-Iraq War to offset its limited air power. It claims Iran has built at least 27 major “missile cities” nationwide, integrating missile storage, assembly, testing, and launch capabilities with independent power, ventilation, and life-support systems. The facilities are buried beneath more than 200 meters of rock, interconnected through tunnel networks, and protected by reinforced blast doors, redundant ventilation shafts, and self-sustaining energy systems capable of operating for weeks without external support.
The article highlights the facilities’ layered protection, modular construction, and redundant layout as key factors underpinning their survivability. It claims that using prefabricated components and redundant access routes, missile complexes near Yazd and Tabriz withstood multiple rounds of U.S. and Israeli strikes, including bunker-busting munitions, while sustaining only localized damage that could be repaired rapidly. The distributed network of missile cities enabled Iran to rotate launch sites, restore damaged facilities quickly, and sustain continuous missile operations despite persistent air attacks.
Source: People’s Daily, June 22, 2026
http://military.people.com.cn/n1/2026/0622/c1011-40744771.html