While Trump and Hegseth have claimed that Iran’s military forces have been “decimated,” the evidence tells a different story. According to a report in The New York Times, U.S. intelligence reports have found that Iran is rapidly restoring launch sites which the U.S. had previously attacked. Iran uses bulldozers or other equipment to dig out the entries to their underground missile bunkers and silos, often times within hours after they are struck. Sites that appeared at first to be destroyed are ultimately dug out by Iran and continue to be used—a design feature which Iran likely had in mind the whole time.
Because of this and other factors, it remains difficult to know how much of Iran’s military capability has actually been destroyed, and how much has merely been bluster on the part of the Trump administration. As was reported earlier, Iran may still have half of its missile launchers, despite earlier claims by Trump to the contrary.
