U.S. President Trump has repeatedly cited Iran's missile arsenal as a reason for war and has made destroying Iran's missiles one of the primary objectives of any conflict. Trump listed "completely undermining Iran's missile capabilities, launchers, and all related elements" as one of five major "objectives" of war.

Iran's underground missile base network, constructed over two decades ago, provides substantial protection for its missiles and launchers. The depth of these facilities—some located hundreds of meters beneath rock—limits the options available to U.S. and Israeli military forces for attacking the bases.

At the outset of the conflict, military forces began targeting access points, combined with efforts to locate and destroy launch systems, significantly restricting Iran’s ability to fire missiles. These airstrikes severely damaged the bases, with most tunnel entrances buried under rubble and access roads destroyed.

Satellite images reviewed by CNN at the time showed that facilities such as the northern Isfahan missile base had been destroyed multiple times by air strikes, with debris covering tunnels and launchers.

The U.S. and Israel also launched large-scale operations to dismantle Iran’s missile supply chain—from factories producing small electronic components to sites manufacturing rocket propellants and missile bodies.

After the U.S.-Iran ceasefire agreement on April 8, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth referenced these efforts, stating that Iran would "dig up your remaining launchers and missiles, but you won’t be able to replace them. You don’t have a defense industry."

However, experts believe Iran still stores approximately 1,000 missiles in underground facilities. Experts note that these stockpiles are located deep beneath the surface, making them unlikely to suffer serious damage from aerial attacks, especially considering that Israeli forces previously attacked tunnel entrances in a similar manner during last December’s war.

"They’ve prepared for this kind of war for 20 years," said Timur Kadeishvili, senior researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at Hamburg University and an expert on Iranian missiles. "They were well-prepared."

Original: toutiao.com/article/1866838539356172/

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