"Explosions Near Tehran": Revolutionary Guard Announces Sudden New Military Drills

The Iranian news agency Tasnim issued an official update to the public on Wednesday morning, warning residents living near Tehran to expect the sounds of explosions and heavy gunfire in the coming days. The report stated that military exercises conducted by the Revolutionary Guard are scheduled to take place through Friday in the area south of the city of Rey. This announcement comes amid a visible surge in military activity within Iran, following several reports of missile launches from bases across the country earlier this week. Although some Iranian officials attempted to deny that drills had taken place, images of missile activity have continued to circulate online.

The increase in Iranian military maneuvers has raised serious alarms in Israel. Reports indicate that Israeli Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir recently held urgent discussions with Admiral Brad Cooper, the commander of U.S. naval forces in the Middle East, to express deep concern that these exercises are being used as direct preparation for a strike against Israel. These fears are compounded by evidence that Iran is accelerating its ballistic missile program with critical equipment and raw materials recently smuggled from China. While the U.S. military recently intercepted a specialized shipment of ammonium perchlorate intended for Iranian missile companies, experts believe many other shipments have successfully reached their destination.

Iranian strategic thinking has shifted significantly following the war in June. The regime has realized that its ballistic missile program is a far more effective threat against Israel than its nuclear program or its network of regional proxies. In previous years, Iran relied on Hezbollah and other terrorist groups to provide a protective layer, but the heavy blows dealt to Hezbollah in Lebanon and terrorists in Gaza have collapsed that theory. Consequently, Tehran is now focused on the mass production of short and medium range missiles designed to overwhelm Israeli defense systems.

Researcher Nicole Grajewski notes that beyond the physical destruction, Iran places immense value on the psychological war against the Israeli home front. By forcing Israeli civilians into a constant state of alert and disrupting daily routines with frequent alarms, Iran aims to create a lasting sense of vulnerability. To protect these vital assets, Western intelligence sources report that Iran is moving its primary missile bases to the eastern part of the country to make it more difficult for the Israeli Air Force to reach them. Additionally, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently replaced the head of the air defense system as part of an intensive effort to rebuild the military infrastructure that was damaged during the last war.