Tehran 'digs up' missile launchers hit in strikes

IRANIAN forces are using the temporary halt in fighting to rearm with hidden missile launchers buried by US-Israeli air strikes.

- BY CHRIS HUGHES

Analysis of satellite footage showed mechanical diggers working on underground storage depots as the Strait of Hormuz crisis deepens.

It comes after the US imposed a naval blockade on the maritime chokepoint in a bid to punish Iran for first blocking the waterway.

Sources suggest Iran is using a temporary truce signed on April 8, which expires on April 22, to move missile assets from east to west.

One of the buried sites is at Khomein, birthplace of the founder of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei. His successor Ayatollah Khamenei was killed in the opening days of the war in an Israeli air strike.