A significant number of Iran's underground missile bases that came under intensive U.S. and Israeli airstrikes have been restored at a rapid pace. Since the ceasefire, Iran has mobilized heavy equipment for recovery work, reopening buried tunnel entrances and restoring most of the damaged access roads, according to confirmed reports.
CNN reported Monday, based on its own analysis of satellite imagery, that 50 of the 69 tunnel entrances at Iran's underground missile facilities have been confirmed reopened. During the war, the United States and Israel had sought to neutralize Iran's long-range missile capabilities by bombing roads leading to underground bases and burying tunnel entrances.
Following the ceasefire, however, Iran swiftly began recovery operations. According to satellite imagery, four of five entrances connecting to underground facilities at a missile base in Dezful have been reopened. At bases near Isfahan and Khomein, buried tunnel entrances have also been restored, and roads damaged by bombing have largely been returned to their original condition.
Experts assessed the recovery as a case that exposes the limits of the U.S. and Israeli airstrike strategy. Sam Lair, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies, said, "Iran still has sufficient missile stockpiles," adding, "As long as launchers and operating personnel are secured, they can continue firing missiles even if production is halted."
U.S. President Donald Trump had identified neutralizing Iran's missile capabilities as one of the main objectives during the war. The United States and Israel struck not only missile bases but also broadly targeted the entire supply chain, including production facilities. However, experts estimate that Iran still stores roughly 1,000 missiles in underground facilities.
Some facilities are built beneath hundreds of meters of bedrock, raising the possibility that aerial attacks alone may not have inflicted fatal damage. U.S. intelligence agencies have also recently assessed that Iran is resuming drone production and restoring its missile launchers and production capabilities, according to reports. "Iran is recovering its missile capabilities faster than the intelligence community had anticipated," an intelligence official said.
