Iran Airs Video of Supreme Leader’s IRGC Envoy in Naval Missile Tunnels

Iranian media on Nov. 3 released video of Hojjatoleslam Abdollah Haji Sadeghi inspecting what it describes as naval missile tunnels in southern Iran. Haji Sadeghi is the Supreme Leader’s representative to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Posts on X relaying the footage said the facilities belong to the IRGC Navy and house anti-ship missiles and fast attack boats, as part of a strategy to protect and maintain military capabilities. All of that is Iranian-media description. Clash Report has not independently verified the location, the filming date, the number or type of weapons shown, or their operational status.

What the Video Shows

X accounts sharing the clip credited it to Fars News, an agency linked to the IRGC. Clash Report could not locate the original Fars page, and the footage gives no date or place of filming.

The roughly two-minute video opens in a long tunnel lined with trucks and truck-mounted launchers carrying missiles or canisters. Their types are not identified. It then shows clerics and officers in camouflage walking through a tunnel with Haji Sadeghi, and a group praying underground.

Clips of truck-mounted launchers firing missiles follow. They appear to be a montage, and there is no confirmation they were filmed during the visit. A uniformed presenter later stands before a map of the Strait of Hormuz. The video’s English subtitles name no missile or boat model.

The Narration’s Message

The speaker is not clearly identified, so the lines below are attributed to the video’s narration, not to Haji Sadeghi.

The narration says the memory of war lives not only in homes and graves but in the geography of the south, and that part of it lay deep in the mountains, in facilities hidden from passing eyes. It says the visit to the IRGC Navy’s tunnels takes the journey “from family visits to the heart of this force’s operational power.”

It describes the tunnels as part of a strategy of concealment, protection and keeping military capabilities ready against a potential attack. Iran, it says, has sought to raise the cost of any military action against it by leveraging its coastal geography, anti-ship missiles, fast boats and a network of operational positions.

The video then turns to Hormuz, saying the strait’s importance far exceeds its size and that a large share of the world’s energy trade depends on its security.

A Day After the Qeshm Strikes

The footage surfaced one day after limited U.S. strikes on Qeshm Island on Monday, Nov. 2. CNN reported, citing three U.S. officials, that the strikes were defensive. One official said they came in response to Iran firing at a U.S. aircraft. Axios, citing a U.S. official, reported that a U.S. fighter jet destroyed an IRGC surface-to-air missile launcher in self-defense. Iran’s IRNA reported five explosions on the island. The IRGC said it shot down a U.S. MQ-9 drone east of the strait, which Washington has not confirmed. Clash Report covered the strikes and President Donald Trump’s “one hour” remark on Pickaxe Mountain.

Trump also answered “No” when NBC’s Garrett Haake asked whether he was considering striking Iran again after the midterms, Clash Report reported.

Mines, Tankers and Talks

On Nov. 3, the IRGC Navy said three oil tankers exploded after hitting naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz, and that the vessels had switched off their navigation and identification systems. No shipping group or government had independently confirmed the claim at the time of writing.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, said the same day that Iran gave Washington a “firm” response and that the ball is in America’s court. The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 2 that Gulf allies are bracing for possible U.S. strikes and Iranian retaliation.

Who Is Haji Sadeghi

Haji Sadeghi represents the Supreme Leader inside the IRGC. In an Oct. 23 statement, Iran International reported, he said Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei continues to manage the country and the armed forces despite wartime limits on his public appearances.

A Familiar Playbook

Tehran has publicized IRGC Navy underground sites before. In January 2025, state TV showed then-IRGC chief Hossein Salami at an underground naval missile base at an undisclosed Gulf location, Reuters reported.

On Feb. 1, 2025, the IRGC Navy unveiled another underground base. Commander Alireza Tangsiri claimed a new cruise missile with a range of more than 1,000 km, Iran International reported. Those capability figures were Iranian claims.