Iran Developing New Ballistic Missile Test Site: Reports

Iran is developing second a ballistic missile testing site in the northern Semnan province, according to reports.

In a footage published by IHS Jane's Military and Security Assessments, tower sitting on a launch pad with a long exhaust deflector hint it was assembled for ballistic missiles holding solid fuel and not for use in Iran's space program.

The unfinished site is some 25 miles southeast of Shahrud, not far from Iran's space center, the Daily Telegraph said.

"Its location and orientation would be suitable for long-range missile tests as they would fly over Iranian territory for 870 miles, meaning large quantities of flight data could be gathered before they drop into the Indian Ocean," Matthew Clements, editor of Jane's military the assessments, told the newspaper.

"At the same time, we can't see any storage facilities for the liquid fuel needed for the rockets that launch satellites, suggesting it will be used for solid-fuel ballistic missiles."

The site is around 40 kilometres (25 miles) southeast of Shahrud. By August 2011, a major construction project was under way, covering approximately 100 square kilometres (40 square miles), Jane's said.

The facility has "several primary functional areas: administration and support; horizontal processing where rockets are prepared for launch; launch pad; and an underground facility connected to the site by a new road and an underground cable," said Jane's.