Iran releases footage of vast tunnel network lined with missile launchers amid growing fears Trump will launch major bombing campaign

Iran has released footage of a vast tunnel network lined with anti-ship cruise missiles on the day America holds its midterm elections. The video, showing rows of missiles stored inside the labyrinth-like facility, has surfaced amid fears Donald Trump will launch a major bombing campaign against Tehran. Also featured in the clip is a missile being launched into the sky from a desert landscape. The footage was published by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Telegram account.

The US has told several Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a short, intense bombardment after the midterm elections . It already carried out strikes on Iran's Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, according to US officials, who described the attacks as limited and defensive. The Pentagon is sending an additional Patriot system to Israel from Texas to increase its missile defences in the country, according to flight-tracking data and two officials with knowledge of the movement.

The US has also transferred troops off bases in the Middle East where they were vulnerable in preparation for an escalation, The Wall Street Journal reported. Iran has released footage of a vast tunnel network lined with anti-ship cruise missiles The video, showing rows of missiles stored inside the labyrinth-like facility, has surfaced amid fears Donald Trump will launch a major bombing campaign against Tehran Also featured in the clip is a missile being launched into the sky from a desert landscape American forces in the region have been restocking their munitions and bomber aircraft and jet fighters are preparing for strikes, as speculation mounts that the US and Israel are readying to launch a new round of heavy combat operations.

The major escalation would be aimed at degrading Tehran's strength and pushing it towards a deal. An additional aircraft-carrier strike group and Marine expeditionary unit are expected to join an armada of roughly 20 other warships operating in the Middle East next month, although some ships could rotate out, according to the Journal. The conflict, in its eighth month, was estimated to have cost $47.1 billion by mid-October, a number that doesn’t include damage done to US bases in the region.

Around 60 per cent of the cost - $29 billion - is attributed to the expenditure of munitions such as Tomahawk and Patriot missiles. Trump is 'considering' launching a nuclear strike on Iran to destroy its Pickaxe Mountain lair, a former CIA agent has claimed. John Kiriakou, who worked at the Central Intelligence Agency from 1990 to 2004, warned the US president was seeking to 'break' the 'final taboo' around dropping nuclear bombs. The former spy claimed Trump wanted to ensure future presidents 'feel empowered' to use America's arsenal of ultimate weapons more liberally.

The footage of the Iranian tunnel network was published by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' (IRGC) Telegram account An enormous explosion was also featured in the clip, as speculation mounts that the joint US-Israeli bombardment of Iran will continue after the American midterm elections His comments come after Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News presenter and Maga whisperer, claimed Trump 'may be within days of launching a nuclear strike on Iran'. 'I've heard the same thing from my own contacts at the White House, that the president is considering the use of a tactical nuclear weapon against Pickaxe Mountain so it will penetrate to the point that it will destroy everything that's underground,' Kiriakou told Piers Morgan Uncensored. 'But more than that, he wants to break that final taboo - and I'm told that's the word he is using: "the final taboo" - so that future presidents would feel empowered to use a nuclear weapon.

I think it's crazy.' The deployment of nuclear weapons would be a major escalation in the war. Such weapons have not been used in anger since the end of the Second World War, when America used nuclear bombs to level the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. In the past, Iran has openly discussed plans to build centrifuges to support its nuclear enrichment efforts at Pickaxe Mountain. The complex is also estimated to be large enough to house an enrichment plant, although its true purpose remains shrouded in mystery.

Conventional bunker-buster bombs have so far struggled to cause enough damage to Iran's mountain facility, which is deep underground. The deployment of a smaller tactical nuke, like the air-launched 400 kiloton B61-11, could pack enough punch to destroy the facility. Fears the US was about to nuke Iran deepened overnight after a nuclear strike warning was broadcast by Iranian state TV. In the broadcast, Iranians were warned that in the event of a nuclear blast to 'take shelter behind a barrier, lie on the ground and cover your head and face' and not to look at 'intense flash'.

Once the blast wave passed, the public was urged to 'enter the nearest building' and to not 'stay to watch or take photos' of the blast's aftermath, Saudi Arabian news agency Al Arabiya reported. It added people should take shelter for 24 hours and wait for official announcements giving the all clear. As concerns continue to grow, there was a palpable sense of fury in Tehran, with Iranians taking to the streets of the capital on Tuesday morning, holding signs declaring: 'Trump must die'.

A large billboard in Enghelab Square also showed a mocked-up image of Trump behind bars, with the words 'We will kill Trump' emblazoned upon it. Dropping nuclear bombs on Iran would be an extraordinary step by America, with the claims widely derided. The radioactive fallout could spread hundreds of miles across the Middle East. The Pickaxe Mountain nuclear facility is hidden deep in central Iran (pictured in June 2026) Your browser does not support iframes.

Iran and the US are still far from a deal to end their war, a senior Iranian official ​told Reuters on Tuesday, as mediator Qatar stepped up efforts to bridge differences and avert a renewed escalation after the US midterm elections. 'Mediators are working hard to narrow gaps between Tehran and Washington,' the senior Iranian official said, after Qatari mediators travelled to Tehran ​on Monday night for talks on a version of a draft US-Iran deal under discussion for the past eight days. 'Tehran's conditions must be met if the US wants Hormuz reopened,' ​the Iranian official cautioned, referring to the waterway critical for global energy supplies.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed al-Ansari said that both the United States and ⁠Iran were reviewing proposals put forward by mediators. While the Qatari team that travelled to Tehran had returned to Doha, talks were continuing. 'There are intensive joint regional efforts underway to avoid escalation,' he told ​a news briefing, adding that Qatar remained hopeful a deal could still be reached to pave the way for future negotiations. 'If there were no glimmer of hope, there would be no negotiations... and as ​a mediator, we cannot lose hope,' he said.

An official briefed on the talks said they expected feedback from Washington and Tehran within the next 36 hours. 'The mediators came up with a new suggestion to move the process along, and it's currently being studied by the two sides,' the official said. The senior Iranian official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Tehran would not accept Washington's 'excessive demands' and that nuclear talks could begin only after Iran's conditions were met.

Tehran ​would respond forcefully, in the region and beyond, to US strikes, the official added. Oil prices rose by about 1.3 per cent on Tuesday, having dropped more than 7 per cent the previous day on hopes diplomacy was ​progressing. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they downed a US MQ-9 drone and two Lucas drones in the skies near the Strait of Hormuz. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said the ball was in Washington's court after Tehran had delivered what ‌he described ⁠as a 'strong and rational response'. 'The enemy seeks to force the Iranian nation into submission through threats and military action, but they are sorely mistaken; Iran will not submit,' Qalibaf said.

He added that Tehran's response to any US miscalculation would be unpredictable and unconstrained by geography. The warnings come as countries across the region braced for the possibility that Trump could resume attacks after the midterms. But the US president cast doubt on Monday about whether he would follow through on threats to resume military strikes after the vote, saying he believed Tehran wanted a deal as soon as possible and that such an agreement 'could happen'.

Asked ​by reporters if he was considering striking Iran after ​the midterms, Trump replied: 'No.' The head of Iran's ⁠armed forces general staff, Ali Abdollahi, said Iran's military was updating target lists that included US and Israeli assets and would respond immediately to any threat. Since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei ordered the armed forces last week to respond immediately and without 'geographic limits' to any enemy threat, Iranian officials and media outlets have ​increasingly raised the prospect of striking bases beyond the region that are used to launch attacks on Iran.

Hardline newspaper Kayhan said on Tuesday that ​US facilities in Britain, Italy, ⁠Greece, Romania, Albania and Cyprus could be targeted in the event of renewed war.