On Monday, June 26, 2017, the Syrian regime published pictures and reports showing Bashar al-Assad's visit to the countryside of Hama, where he surprised wounded soldiers from his army by visiting them in their homes.
Al-Assad's visit came as part of a three-day tour that began with Eid al-Fitr prayers in Hama, continued with visits to the wounded on the second day and ended with a visit to the Russian Hmeimim base.
The pictures and reports hide the planned and studied nature of the visit. As behind these scenes is another story that on the surface ignited a media war while at its core is a strategic battle. The media coverage of al-Assad's visit did not cover his visit to the most important and dangerous center for the manufacture and development of long-range missiles with Iranian expertise.
It was a heavy-duty secret visit to a long-range and ballistic missile manufacturing site inside a secret facility before Ammar Johmani revealed details about the visit and the facility.
On June 28, Ammar Johmani published details about the visit based on information from well-informed sources. Al-Assad inspected the Wadi Jehanam facility for the production of long-range and ballistic missiles in preparation for it launching its work after months of preparations and developing the facility infrastructure.
Ammar Johmani revealing information about the facility echoed widely in Western media, with ‘The Washington Free Bacon’ mentioning the report due to the sensitivity and importance of the information.
The Western coverage prompted the Russian media to try to deny what Ammar Johmani reported. Sputnik, run by Russian intelligence, made one such attempt. Perhaps the reason for the Russian outcry is that Ammar Johmani revealed the participation of Russian and North Korean experts in establishing the center and the operations to develop the ballistic missile industry in it.
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It seems that the disclosure of this dangerous information pained the Russians prompting them to describe Ammar Johmani as belonging to the extremist Syrian opposition.
What is hiding in those mountains for analysts to come out in the Russian media and consider that the issue of Wadi Jehanam, or Hell Valley, could ignite a war between the United States and Russia?
According to the information Ammar Johmani obtained, the center, which they started operations in early 2016, is a research center that will be launched at the end of 2017.
According to well-informed sources, the center is a facility for the development and production of long-range and ballistic missiles such as the M600 ballistic missile, the secret name adopted by the research center. The center is also expected to produce the Iranian rocket type known as “Fateh 110” known by the local name of Mysaloun And Tishrin.
During our search and comparison between the satellite images from Google Earth, we discovered the same place with precise coordinates. Surprisingly, the images dating back to early 2017 do not show the military buildings which appear in the recent images taken from a nearby military area, and satellite space indicating the accuracy of what Ammar Johmani published.
It is a fortified area about 15 kilometers east of the town of Banyias, within a rugged valley known as Wadi Jehanam (Valley of Hell). It is located on the outskirts of several towns, including al-Anazah, Nahl, al-Alaiqat, and al-Ghansala which are all administratively subordinate to Banyias.
Here in this facility, al-Assad spent two hours with Iranian and Syrian experts discussing the preparations for launch work in the facility.
Sources speculate that the establishment of a research and development facility for the manufacture of missiles in this location, close to pro-regime villages, is a move to complete the transfer of strategic military and vital facilities to the Syrian coastal areas with a pro-regime majority with a sectarian dimension. The move is a plan that the regime has been working on for years after it lost control of many areas in Syria including those hosting military facilities and important research centers.
The Wadi Jehanam facility is subordinate to the fourth sector according to the divisions of research centers in Syria. The fourth sector includes the areas of Aleppo, Hama, and Masyaf, and its headquarters are in Hama. Dr. Aziz Esber runs the fourth sector in direct coordination with the Presidential Palace.
The story does not end with Wadi Jehanam as about twenty-five kilometers south-east of the center there is something new in the making.
This story dates back to the end of 2013 when the al-Assad regime began constructing new buildings to the north-east of Masayaf, about 5.5 km from Masayaf’s boundaries, in an area called al-Sheikh al-Ghadhban. There the project, known as Project 111, previously failed.
According to sources, at the end of 2016, the regime began installing the production lines of the 4000 Institute and manufacturing medium-range missiles (220 mm + 302 mm) that the regime transferred from New Aleppo to this site. The Iranians provided the missing parts which the regime was unable to transfer from Aleppo.
The information indicates that the production process started in this site at the beginning of 2017.
Regarding the Fourth Sector, run by Esber, the sector was transferred to a camp close to the production site and the entire area is surrounded by intensified security.
Thus, the regime has transferred the entire missile production to a pro-regime area. The regime has also moved to demobilize other experts according to their sectarian affiliation while Iran is training pro-regime personnel to compensate for any shortages.
Between Wadi Jehanam and al-Ghadhban, a thorny file emerges and work that extends beyond local Syrian geography to regional and international dangers. The issue of long-range missiles and new research facilities is a complex file where strategies and conflicts intermingle ranging from Iran to Moscow to Washington, and Israel, of course, which is never far from the mix.
