U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that Iran still retains thousands of ballistic missiles, directly contradicting claims that weeks of joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes have significantly weakened Iran's strategic capabilities.
Officials familiar with the intelligence say Tehran's missile capabilities benefit from a vast network of hardened underground storage facilities that have largely protected its mobile launchers from destruction during weeks of U.S. and Israeli air strikes.
They say Iran still possesses thousands of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles that can be pulled from concealment or retrieved from underground facilities. This assessment contradicts claims by U.S. officials that more than half of Iran's missile launchers have been "destroyed, damaged or trapped underground."
Meanwhile, Israeli officials said that during the five-week conflict, Israeli air strikes have focused on blocking Iranian missile launch tunnels, but "the base itself is difficult to destroy." They revealed that Iran had about 2,500 medium-range missiles before the war and still has more than 1,000.