Iran official says US changes to draft memo unacceptable - Al Jazeera

Citizens who sent the videos to Iran International described the locations as the mountains near Najafabad or areas around Vilashahr, Khomeini-Shahr and Homayoun-Shahr.

The Ahmad Kazemi facility is located in that same area, five kilometers west of Khomeini-Shahr, 1.5 kilometers north of Vilashahr and seven kilometers northeast of Najafabad.

Officially named after Ahmad Kazemi, a late commander of the IRGC Air Force, the roughly two-square-kilometer complex is used for the production, assembly and storage of the IRGC’s strategic missiles.

Iranian state media usually describe such sites as “missile cities.”

A cluster of 12 tunnel entrances can be seen at the complex in aerial images.

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The site’s storage capacity has reportedly been estimated at up to 2,000 missiles, though that refers to its overall capacity. After two wars, it is unclear how many missiles actually remain there.

Prepared berms for deploying launchers and missile transport frames are visible across the complex.

A comparison of images from before the 12-day war in July 2024 and after it in December 2025 shows that large parts of the base were destroyed during that conflict.

(To compare the images below, move the slider from right to left or vice versa.)

After

Before

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During the clashes on Sunday night and Monday morning, June 8, there were reports both of missile launches from the area and of explosions at the site following Israeli attacks.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) has described the complex as Iran’s largest missile assembly and production facility.

The Ahmad Kazemi complex was built in the late 1980s with assistance from North Korea and China. Solid and liquid fuels, missile components, Shahab missiles and Chinese-made Silkworm and M-class missiles are assembled and produced there.

During both the 12-day war in 2025 and the 2026 war, known as the 40-day war, powerful explosions were repeatedly reported in the area.

Aerial imagery partly revealed the extent of the damage after the 12-day war.

(To compare the images below, move the slider from right to left or vice versa.)

After

Before

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During the 2026 war, multiple reports were published about attacks on the base, including on March 13, 2026, and March 27, 2026.

“From the Strait of Hormuz to Bab al-Mandab, and from the Persian Gulf to the Red Sea, a new security belt of the resistance will be formed,” IRGC Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani said in a message on Monday.

He praised Yemen’s Houthis for their “timely and powerful” missile attacks against Israel, saying it showed the “intelligence of the resistance front” and warned that “if necessary, others will also come.”

He said “the hostile acts of the Zionist regime and America in this region will draw a reaction from the united resistance front.”

Qaani added: “Borderless fighters are overlooking your passage chokepoints. Continue the aggression and they will grab you by the throat.”

Iran and five other countries from the Middle East involved in the mediation efforts between the United States and Iran asked Donald Trump to pressure Netanyahu to stop the attacks and move forward with an agreement, Axios reported citing an interview with the US president.

The Trump administration received messages from the Iranians on Monday morning stating a willingness to stop shooting if Israel did the same, the US president told Axios.

"They called us and said that they are not doing any more attacks and asked us to tell Israel not to do any more attacks," Trump said.

He also said that "the Israelis gave us an update at a very late stage. They were already on their way to Iran. I managed to reduce the scope of the attack."

“Neither diplomacy prevents military operations, nor do military operations prevent diplomacy,” he said. “At one point, with the threat of an attack and cutting off negotiations, you prevent Israel’s attack on Beirut. At another point, with an attack, you show that you are not afraid of negotiations being cut off and that you are fully prepared.”

“By God’s grace, the result is that they are forced to retreat over our rights and we establish our own rights,” Ghalibaf added.

“So it is not that we are supposed to either fight or negotiate,” Ghalibaf added. “Rather, we are supposed to fight when it is time, and negotiate when it is time. This is how we can defeat the enemy. This is how, when we say negotiation is the continuation of struggle, it becomes real.”

Ghalibaf also rejected claims of divisions among Iranian officials, saying: “Contrary to what some think, that there is no coordination among officials, no. There is full coordination among officials to reach the objectives.”

“The hands of our armed forces are always open for action,” he said. “Our goal is to end the war and create lasting security, not fireworks in relations with America. We also have no trust in the other side.”

He described the US naval blockade as a “war crime” and said Iran would turn it into another defeat for its enemies. “With national cohesion, diplomacy of power and military strength under the command of the Leader, we will make the enemy lose hope in the surrender of the Iranian people.”

US forces disabled an empty oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman after it violated the US blockade against Iran by attempting to sail to an Iranian port, US Central Command said on Monday.

CENTCOM said the Palau-flagged M/T Marivex was transiting international waters toward Iran on June 8 when an F/A-18 Super Hornet from the USS Abraham Lincoln fired a precision munition into the vessel’s engineering and steering spaces.

The command said the strike came after the crew failed to comply with US orders, adding that the tanker was no longer sailing toward Iran.

CENTCOM said US forces have disabled seven non-compliant vessels, redirected 134 ships that complied with the blockade, and allowed 42 vessels carrying humanitarian aid to pass since the blockade began on April 13.