Parchin

Military base in Tehran, Iran

Parchin (پارچین) is an Iranian military complex, located about southeast of Tehran. It is closely linked with the Khojir missile production complex.

Parchin is located on the bank of the Jajrud (river).

In November 1976, during the Shah era, Parchin was selected as the site for Iranian assembly of Rapier missiles. The project would later be cancelled.

To the northwest of Parchin in the Barjamali Hills, a test range for liquid propellant missile engines is part of the Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG) Khojir research facility where signature of engine test stand firing, probably including technology from the Russian SS 4 Sandal missile, was confirmed by an American spy satellite in August 1997.

On January 13, 2005, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors were allowed access to the Parchin military base as a confidence building measure. The IAEA inspectors revisited the site in November 2005.

In November 2007, an explosion occurred in a warehouse. Firefighters successfully extinguished the resulting fire. Four people were injured.

In late 2011, the IAEA said it had observed extensive landscaping, demolition and new construction at the site. In February 2012 the IAEA then sought renewed access to Parchin, which was refused by Iran.

In early October 2014, the New York Times reported on sabotage concerns arising from a blast that took place at the site. A "huge orange flash" was reportedly seen from Tehran. Two people died.

In June 2016, IAEA investigators reported to the Wall Street Journal that they had found in December 2015 traces of uranium at the Parchin facility, establishing the first physical evidence of a nuclear weapons programme at the missile complex site, which was nicely displayed in the reference article by satellite photograph.

In the early morning of 26 June 2020, an explosion occurred close to the military base in Parchin. According to the Defense ministry spokesman Davoud Abdi, it was due to "a gas leak" at a "gas storage facility" near the base. In news that was released the next day by the Associated Press, Sentinel 2 satellite images show signs of a vast blackened area in the hills located next to the ammunitions facility and the cruise missile factory at Khojir missile base, which is evidence of an explosion and fire that lit up the night sky in Tehran. On 29 June, the New York Times accused the Iranian government of lying that the blast happened at Parchin, because satellite photographs show the explosion happened at the adjacent Khojir missile production facility.

There have been reports of collaborations between Parchin and Imam Hossein University.