US Intelligence: Iran Rapidly Restores Missile Shelters After Airstrikes

Iranian military personnel are excavating underground missile bunkers and silos hit by American and Israeli bombs and returning them to service within hours of the attacks.

This is reported by The New York Times, citing US intelligence reports.

According to these reports, Tehran has retained a significant portion of its ballistic missiles and mobile launchers despite intense bombing.

Although the Pentagon reports striking 11,000 targets over five weeks of operations, US intelligence agencies doubt that the country’s missile capabilities have been quickly destroyed.

The widespread use of decoys and the concealment of equipment in deep caves prevents military analysts from determining the exact number of enemy losses.

Former officials note that internal strife within the Iranian government has undermined the command structure, leaving the army unable to launch massive barrages.

Currently, Iran is firing between 15 and 30 ballistic missiles and up to a hundred drones at Israel daily, deliberately limiting the intensity of the fire. It is believed that Tehran seeks to preserve as much equipment as possible to maintain pressure in the event of a protracted war.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth report a significant weakening of Iranian capabilities and point to a 90% drop in the number of attacks.

At the same time, intelligence reports show that the Iranians are using bulldozers to clear blocked launch sites, allowing them to launch missiles again from the same locations.

As a reminder, as part of Operation Epic Fury, the US military fired more than 850 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Iran over the course of four weeks of war.

A significant portion of these missiles were used in the early days of Operation Epic Fury to strike strategic targets in Iran.

According to estimates by Mackenzie Eglan, a senior research fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, the US Navy may have had between 4,000 and 4,500 Tomahawk missiles prior to the start of the war.