A new assessment suggests weeks of US military strikes may not have damaged Iran’s missile capacity as much as the White House has claimed. The report says American and allied attacks hit launch sites, storage areas, and related infrastructure, but a large part of Iran’s missile force may still be usable.
The findings arrive as President Donald Trump continues to argue that Iran’s military capabilities have been sharply reduced. At the same time, intelligence and defense officials cited in the report say Iran appears to have preserved a meaningful share of its launchers and missiles, in part because of dispersed sites and underground facilities.
That gap matters because the military campaign has been presented as a major success. If the assessment is accurate, Iran could still maintain the ability to threaten US interests and regional targets even after weeks of bombardment.
The report adds another layer of uncertainty to the conflict, which has already raised concerns about escalation, civilian harm, and the risk of a longer confrontation than US officials have publicly suggested.
