A classified U.S. intelligence review reportedly finds that Iran would be capable of weathering a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz for several months before experiencing major economic deterioration, underscoring the limits of immediate pressure on Tehran.
The analysis prepared by the U.S. intelligence community and delivered to administration officials this week reportedly raises new questions about President Donald Trump’s optimistic public assessments regarding the effectiveness of U.S. military and economic pressure on Tehran.
The report said intelligence officials also determined that Iran retains substantial ballistic missile capabilities, despite weeks of U.S. and Israeli strikes targeting military infrastructure and weapons facilities.
Iran retains about 75% of its prewar inventories of mobile launchers and about 70% of its prewar stockpiles of missiles, said a U.S. official, according to The Washington Post.
The official said there is evidence that the regime has been able to recover and reopen almost all of its underground storage facilities, repair some damaged missiles and even assemble some new missiles that were nearly complete when the war began.
