Overview
- Satellite imagery and on-the-ground photos reviewed by reporters show Iran has cleared about 50 of 69 tunnel entrances at 18 underground missile facilities using bulldozers and dump trucks.
- Repair work has filled craters and in some cases repaved roads that were targeted to block launchers and limit movement on base access routes.
- Missile analysts say roughly 1,000 missiles stored deep below the surface could now be accessible if launchers and crews regain use of the sites.
- U.S. intelligence officials warn Iran is rebuilding production and launcher capacity faster than expected and the Pentagon declined to contest the imagery-based findings.
- The sites were built over two decades under rock that limits options for destruction, and the low-tech repairs show how costly precision strikes can be undone, creating fresh operational risks for Israel, regional shipping and fragile diplomatic talks.