A western intelligence estimate says Iran can build about 50 ballistic missiles per month — roughly half its prewar capacity — providing a formidable means of retaliation if hostilities resume, despite months of airstrikes.
The U.S. has said since the early days of the war that Tehran’s arsenal, and its ability to reconstitute it, had been thoroughly degraded. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reiterated that in remarks on Tuesday, saying 80% of Iran’s industrial base had been destroyed.
Iran’s conventional military has largely been wiped out by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. But it most likely has at least 1,700 ballistic missiles remaining and is building more at roughly half the rate possible before the war, according to a western official citing military intelligence reports. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps — the most powerful wing of Iran’s military — also released footage on Tuesday of what it described as the unveiling of a new underground “missile city.”
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