U.S. Intelligence Assessment: Only Confirmed Destruction of One-Third of Iran's Missiles
So, after a month of relentless bombing by the U.S. and Israel, they’ve only managed to destroy one-third of Iran’s missile stockpile?
On the 27th, Reuters cited U.S. intelligence officials stating that currently, the United States can only confirm the destruction of one-third of Iran’s missile inventory, with another third unaccounted for.
The report also noted a similar situation regarding drones. U.S. intelligence agencies “are only confident that one-third of Iran’s drones have been destroyed”—a conclusion that directly contradicts Trump’s claim that “Iran now has very few missiles left.”
This U.S. intelligence assessment is actually quite revealing. Earlier assessments by U.S.-Israeli think tanks placed Iran’s total missile count around 2,000 to 2,500. However, since the conflict erupted at the end of February, Iran has already launched over 1,400 ballistic missiles.
Therefore, if the U.S. intelligence assessment is accurate, Iran’s actual missile capabilities must be significantly higher than previously estimated by U.S.-Israeli analysts—most directly evidenced by the fact that Iran still retains the ability to launch missile attacks against Gulf states and Israel.
In fact, this is not the first time that the U.S. and Israel have made major miscalculations in their intelligence assessments regarding Iran. In this round of conflict, the biggest misjudgment by the U.S. and Israel was their assumption that killing Khamenei would lead to Iran’s swift surrender—but reality proved otherwise. The war has not concluded quickly as expected, but instead has descended into a protracted attrition battle, with no sign of an end in sight.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1860893419148423/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.