Iran building new weapons storage tunnel in east Syria

Iran is currently building an underground storage facility capable of handling advanced weapons systems at the Imam Ali military base in Albukamal, eastern Syria, new satellite photos show.

The satellite images captured by Israeli firm ImageSat International (ISI) showed construction work at the base located 5 km west of the Iraqi border.

The satellite images show bulldozers at the entrance of a 4-5 meter wide tunnel entrance northwest of the Imam Ali base.

Satellite shots from April 1 show an excavator and bulldozers near where the new construction took place.

Intelligence analysis conducted by ISI indicates the tunnel is fit to be used for the storage of vehicles carrying advanced weapons systems. This conclusion was drawn from looking at similar tunnels that were dug over the past nine months on the same complex.

One such tunnel, two miles away, was bombed by Israeli fighter jets in March, forcing the Iranians to abruptly stop construction.

The new satellite images from ISI show a first tunnel south of the new construction site now abandoned since that March attack.

Images from ISI come as Hezbollah terror group leader Hassan Nasrallah emerged on Wednesday from his underground bunker where he has been hiding since 2006 to say that Israel is now concentrating its attacks in Syria on missile-manufacturing sites.

Israel has conducted many raids inside Syria since the start of the civil war in 2011. It sees the presence of Hezbollah and its ally Iran there as a strategic threat.

Israel has acknowledged carrying out hundreds of airstrikes in Syria in recent years, most of them aimed at arms shipments to be headed from Iran to its Shiite proxy Hezbollah.