Israel military says struck Iran Guards 'space force' HQ

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The Israeli military said on Sunday it had struck what it described as the "space force headquarters" of Iran's Revolutionary Guards in Tehran.

"As part of the strikes, the IDF targeted and dismantled the Iranian terror regime's IRGC Space Force headquarters," the military said.

"The headquarters served as a reception, transmission and research centre for the Iranian Space Agency, which is affiliated with the regime's military," it said.

The military said the site included research facilities as well as the command-and-control centre for the "Khayyam" satellite, which was used to "monitor the State of Israel and its residents".

In August 2022, Russia launched the satellite on a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

Iran's space agency said at the time that the device was constructed by Russia under Iranian supervision.

The US said that the Khayyam satellite would give Iran "significant spying capabilities".

Iran's space agency rejected that, saying that the purpose of Khayyam was to "monitor the country's borders", and help with the management of natural resources and agriculture.

On Sunday, the Israeli military said it had also targeted other sites in Tehran, including around 50 bunkers that stored ammunition and a compound belonging to the Guards' ground forces.