Iran still holds thousands of ballistic missiles despite losses: Report

Iran still possesses thousands of ballistic missiles that it could potentially use by retrieving launchers from underground storage areas, according to unnamed sources, News.Az reports, citing The Wall Street Journal.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran’s military “is defeated, Their military is gone. We've degraded just about everything. They have very few missiles. They have very little manufacturing capability. We've hit them hard.”

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has also stated that Iran’s missile program is “functionally destroyed,” adding that launchers and missiles have been largely depleted and rendered ineffective.

However, the report suggests that Iran could still rebuild parts of its missile force. It notes that although more than half of Iran’s missile launchers have been destroyed, damaged, or buried underground, many of them could potentially be repaired or recovered and brought back into operational use.

According to the same report, Iran’s missile stockpile has also been reduced by roughly half, but the country still retains thousands of medium- and short-range ballistic missiles that could be brought out of storage or from underground facilities if needed.

The report also says that Iran now has well under half of its original one-way attack drone capability following heavy usage and strikes on its production facilities. Nevertheless, officials cited in the report say Iran could potentially acquire similar systems from Russia to replenish its capabilities.

Separately, a two-week ceasefire in the US-Iran war, which began on February 28, took effect this week following Pakistani mediation. Pakistan is also hosting talks aimed at permanently ending the conflict.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev