WSJ learned that Iran still has thousands of ballistic missiles. Trump reacted

Iran, according to American officials familiar with US intelligence assessments, still possesses thousands of ballistic missiles in its arsenal, which it could use by extracting launchers from underground storage facilities, The Wall Street Journal reports, writes UNN.

Details

These assessments, it is stated, emerged amidst US efforts to solidify a ceasefire.

Some American officials have expressed concern that Iran will use the lull in fighting to rebuild part of its missile arsenal.

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US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated this week that Iran's missile program is "functionally destroyed," and launchers and missiles are "depleted and destroyed, and virtually completely ineffective."

"However, the picture painted in US intelligence reports indicates that Iran may be able to reconstitute some of its missile forces," the publication writes. Although US officials say more than half of Iran's missile launchers have been destroyed, damaged, or stuck underground, many of the remaining launchers could be repaired or extracted from underground complexes, US officials said.

During the conflict, Iran's missile arsenal also roughly halved, but the country retained thousands of medium- and short-range ballistic missiles that could be extracted from shelters or retrieved from underground facilities, US and Israeli officials said.

Iran has significantly fewer than 50% of the attack drones it had at the start of the war, because many were expended during the conflict, and Tehran's production sites were attacked by the US and Israel, US officials say. But the regime could acquire similar systems from Russia for use against its neighbors, US officials said.

Iran also still has a small stockpile of cruise missiles that could be used to strike ships in the Persian Gulf or American troops attempting to seize an island if negotiations break down, US officials say.

American analysts do not predict a rapid return of the Iranian army to pre-war levels of missiles and drones, given US and Israeli efforts to strike Iranian defense industries. But Iran has proven its resilience, and some US government analysts predict that Iran could still use some of its ballistic missile launchers.

Israeli officials say about two-thirds of Iran's ballistic missile launchers were disabled during the war, but note that the Iranians were able to extract many of those that were blocked underground by US and Israeli strikes. Israeli officials also say Iran still has more than 1,000 of the approximately 2,500 medium-range missiles Iran had at the start of the war. Others were either fired or destroyed.

A spokesman for US Central Command, which oversees US forces in the Middle East, declined to comment and referred to recent statements by senior US military officials about the scope of US and Israeli air campaigns.

On Wednesday, General Dan Kaine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the strikes had destroyed Iran's defense industrial base. He said the US had dropped more than 13,000 munitions, hitting missile and drone depots, the navy, and the country's defense industry, "to ensure that Iran cannot regain the ability to project force beyond its borders."

White House press secretary Anna Kelly said the American military had achieved all its objectives.

"This significant military success allowed Vice President Vance, Special Envoy Witkoff, and Jared Kushner to negotiate with maximum leverage to permanently end these threats to American forces and our homeland," Kelly said. "As the Vice President said..., he hopes for a positive conversation if the Iranians are willing to work in good faith."

After the publication appeared, US President Donald Trump stated on Truth Social: "Fake News Media is crazy or just corrupt! The United States has completely destroyed the Iranian armed forces, including their entire navy and air force, and everything else. Their leadership is dead! The Strait of Hormuz will soon be open, and empty ships are rushing to the United States to 'load up.' But, if you listen to Fake News, we are losing!"

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