TEHRAN -- Iran’s chief of staff of the armed forces has visited an underground ballistic missile production facility, the national television reported, as Tehran showcased its domestic defense capabilities and confirmed that weapons production has more than tripled during the recent war with the United States and Israel.
Major General Ali Abdollahi toured the underground site on Saturday, coinciding with Iran’s National Defense Industry Day, accompanied by Acting Defense Minister Brigadier General Seyyed Majid Ibn-e-Reza. 
The visit marked the first time Iranian media released footage from inside one of the country’s underground missile production complexes, showing an industrial planetary mixer commonly used to mix solid fuel for ballistic missiles, alongside dozens of newly manufactured Almas guided anti-tank missiles.
“This is one of the dozens of underground production lines of the country’s defense industries,” Abdollahi said during the visit. 
“Great work has been done by our dear colleagues in the Ministry of Defense. When one enters this place, one sees nothing but work, effort, and alongside it, the enthusiasm for progress. The progress made in various dimensions has been astonishing. The equipment produced has better capabilities and higher quality, and their production has also increased in terms of quantity.”
The armed forces chief hailed a “deterrent defensive industrial revolution” in domestic weapons production. Abdollahi noted that the production of suicide drones has tripled since the beginning of the war. 
“Today, in the Ministry of Defense, nothing is seen but work, effort, and the passion for progress,” he said, emphasizing that both quality and quantity of production have increased significantly compared to the past.
Iran’s defense ministry spokesman Brigadier General Reza Talaei-Nik confirmed in an interview with national television that Iran’s annual defense industry production doubled between July 2025 and July 2026 compared with the previous year. 
“Since the beginning of the war in late February, the country’s production of certain strategic military products and equipment had increased more than threefold,” Talaei-Nik said.
The increase was achieved despite some defense industry facilities being targeted during the terrorist war, including the 12-day war with Israel and the US in June 2025. 
“We use our own equipment and continue production at the same time. The high capacity of the defense industry is due to uninterrupted daily production, a widespread production network, and long-term strategic reserves,” Talaei-Nik said.
The spokesman emphasized that Iran’s defense industry network now includes more than 9,000 private and knowledge-based companies contributing to the national defense supply chain – a 20% increase from the previous year. 
“Domestic production has helped reduce the cost of some Iranian weapons to one-tenth or one-twentieth of that of comparable foreign products,” Talaei-Nik noted.
He also highlighted a fundamental transformation in Iran’s defense industrial base: “Before the Revolution, we imported 90 percent of our military equipment. Today, however, we produce advanced, indigenous weapons with 90 percent self-sufficiency.” 
Currently, Iran produces more than 1,000 types of advanced military systems and weapons, a sharp increase from just 31 basic data-x-items produced before the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Iran’s underground missile production facilities are part of a broader network of “missile cities” developed across the country, with tunnels carved deep into mountains and remote terrain. 
Experts have said Iran has continued to produce weapons in geographically dispersed underground bases that have stayed out of reach of U.S. bombs.
The underground production lines include facilities for ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, satellites and satellite launchers, as well as various weapons and military equipment.
The White House previously claimed that more than 85 percent of Iran’s defense-industrial base had been destroyed during the war, including the majority of its ballistic missiles, mobile launchers and long-range drones. 
However, a confidential U.S. intelligence assessment reported by media in May found that Iran retained approximately 75 percent of its mobile launchers and 70 percent of its pre-war missile inventory.
Israeli and U.S. intelligence reports have noted that Iran used leftover components, restored damaged assembly lines, and leveraged dispersed underground infrastructure to recover at a speed that has surprised international observers. 
By moving military production underground, Iran prevented the U.S. and Israel from targeting its military-industrial complex.
Israeli military officials have been shocked by the speed of Iran’s military recovery following the early 2026 war, according to a Jerusalem Post report on August 14 that was independently confirmed. Both military and Mossad officials reportedly did not expect Iran to restore its stockpile of ballistic missiles and other critical weapons so quickly.
Israeli military officials are now admitting that Iran has figured out creative ways to focus on rebuilding its missile and other capabilities.
Part of what is surprising is that the Zionist military was already caught off guard twice before: in October 2024 and January 2025. After allegedly striking 20 critical ballistic missile targets in October 2024, the Israeli military claimed it had set back Iranian missile production by a year or more. 
Yet by early 2025, Iran had fully recovered its production pace. After allegedly attacking around 100 targets in June 2025, the Zionist military said it had found the formula to truly set back production by multiple years – but again, Iran recovered .
Iranian officials have confirmed that in another future war, the IRGC will deploy new generations of warheads for its ballistic and cruise missiles, as production and development never stopped. 
“We have limited unveilings of weapons and equipment in order to surprise the enemy and safeguard the country’s defensive information and secrets,” Talaei-Nik said.
The acting defense minister noted that compared to last year’s war with Israel and the U.S., the Iranian armed forces were able to achieve deeper penetration of enemy bases, greater strike accuracy, and more successful air defense interceptions.