A May 30 CNN article, “Iran’s Reopened Underground Missile Sites Show Limits of U.S. Bombing,” reports on a CNN study which found that while the U.S.-Israel war of aggression against Iran significantly damaged roads and buried tunnels from the war’s inception on February 28 to the declaration of ceasefire April 8 of this year, the Iranians, since the ceasefire, using basic/simple equipment, have been able to dig out their arsenals of missiles, missile launchers, and missile-production facilities.
This study indicates that the U.S. Trump administration’s claim of a great success in crippling Iran’s missile program seems to be overstated, to say the least. The CNN study looked at satellite imagery, and may possibly have been aided by members of an Intelligence agency or people with some relevant intelligence background. Timur Kadysheve, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg, who studies Iran’s missiles, said the Iranians “were preparing for this kind of war for 20 years. They are very well prepared.”
CNN reports, “To reopen the bases, Iran has used a variety of construction and earthmoving equipment. In the satellite images, front-end loaders are visible scooping up rubble as dump trucks fill craters with dirt.” At one base, outside Isfahan, the U.S. and Israel conducted numerous strikes to block four tunnel entrances during the war. At least four craters could be seen at a pair of entrances. By early May, “a satellite image showed a dump truck being used to fill in the craters. The other two entrances also blocked by craters and debris had already been opened, and the roads to them, previously destroyed, had been repaired.”
The review found Iran was able to clear the entrances to 50 of 69 tunnels and 18 missile-production sites. CNN found that its analysis reflected several leaked intelligence reports of the past months. The article states that “experts believe Iran still has around 1,000 missiles stored in the underground sites.” Iran is reportedly producing new missiles, whereas the U.S. has used up a significant portion of its own.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that eliminating Tehran’s missile program was one of the war’s goals. It is unlikely that he will achieve that goal. This calls into question the success of the U.S. bombing plan. In addition, Iran now controls a large part of the flow of vessels going into and out of the Strait of Hormuz.
