The “Eagle 44” facility is said to be the first of its kind, capable of storing and operating fighter jets and drones.
By Erin Viner
“Any attack on Iran from our enemies, including Israel, will see a response from our many air force bases including Eagle 44,” warned Iran’s Armed Forces Chief of Staff Major General Mohammad Bagheri during the unveiling ceremony yesterday.
The base is one of the Islamic Republic’s most important, reported the official IRNA news agency, emphasizing that it was built deep underground.
Eagle 44 is large enough to house aircraft equipped with long-range cruise missiles, said the report, which did not disclose its location.
“Our enemies, who usually have wrong intelligence, should sometimes see what we are capable of. This will help maintain peace in the world and the region,” stated Iranian Amy Chief Commander Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi, who also attended the inauguration along with other senior Iranian military leaders.
In addition to being capable of accepting and operating various types of fighter jets and bombers as well as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of the Iranian Air Force, IRNA reported that the base is “equipped with different facilities, such as alert and command posts, hangars, fixing and maintenance sites, navigation and airport facilities, fuel tanks and so on, the air base can prepare the Army air force fighters for carrying out varied operations.”
Eagle 44 is one of several underground air bases constructed by the Ayatollah regime beneath mountainous regions over the past few years to “facilitate surprise air operations from an unexpected location in an unexpected time,” said the report.
Last May, the Iranian army provided details about an underground drone base it said was opened as a means to protect military assets from potential air strikes by regional arch foe Israel.
Israel and the United States have long discussed a ‘Plan B’ aimed at preventing Iranian acquisition of a nuclear weapon, including possible military strikes.
During his visit to the region last summer when signing a joint pledge with then-Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid, US President Joe Biden declared willingness to use force if necessary to prevent Iran from acquiring atomic bombs.
The Ayatollah regime has repeatedly vowed to annihilate the Jewish State. Israel has consistently warned that its arch-enemy will try to secure a windfall in sanctions relief at the talks, without sufficiently rolling back nuclear bomb-making potential through its accelerated enrichment of uranium.