US intelligence assesses Iran retains 70% of prewar missile stockpile - report
Classified assessments show Iran has regained access to 30 of 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, sharply contradicting White House portrayal
Classified US intelligence assessments assess Iran has regained operational access to 30 of its 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz and retains roughly 70 percent (%) of its prewar missile stockpile, sharply contradicting the Trump administration's public portrayal of a shattered Iranian military, the New York Times reported Monday.
The assessments, dated less than a month after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that Operation Epic Fury had "decimated Iran's military and rendered it combat-ineffective for years to come," show that Iran still retains around 70% of its mobile launchers and has regained access to roughly 90% of its underground missile storage and launch facilities nationwide. These sites are now assessed to be "partially or fully operational," according to people with knowledge of the findings cited by the Times. Only three missile sites along the strait were deemed to remain totally inaccessible.
The reported findings contradict with months of public assurances from President Donald Trump, who told CBS News on March 9 that Iran's "missiles are down to a scatter" and the country had "nothing left in a military sense."
The White House pushed back Monday, with spokeswoman Olivia Wales repeating that Iran's military had been "crushed" and saying anyone who "thinks Iran has reconstituted its military is either delusional or a mouthpiece" for the IRGC.
Trump posted on social media Tuesday that it was "virtual treason" to suggest Iran's military was doing well. The acting Pentagon press secretary accused the Times of "acting as public relations agents for the Iranian regime."
According to the Times, the intelligence points to consequences of a tactical decision made during the campaign: faced with limited stocks of bunker-busting munitions, US military planners opted to try to seal off entrances to hardened missile facilities rather than destroying them entirely, with mixed results.
Officials said planners also needed to preserve a certain number of bunker busters for potential wars in Asia with North Korea and China. The findings compound concerns about US munitions stocks, which the Times reports have been significantly depleted.