Iran Resumes Ballistic Missile Production, Assembling Stockpiled Parts in Underground Bases: WSJ

Iran has resumed ballistic missile production by assembling stockpiled parts in underground facilities, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 10th (local time), citing U.S. and Middle Eastern officials.

Some officials told the WSJ that despite intensive U.S. and Israeli airstrikes targeting Iranian missile bases and production facilities in the early stages of the war, Iran has continued to reassemble missiles without interruption.

Iran has reportedly resumed production of both liquid-fueled missiles, which require fueling just before launch, and solid-fueled missiles, which can be stored ready for launch.

These activities have been detected at several underground bases, including a missile facility in Khojir in southeastern Iran, according to the officials.

The officials noted in particular that Iran is attempting to construct new underground missile production facilities to evade attacks.

While production volume is lower than before the war due to extensive destruction of missile and component manufacturing facilities by the U.S. and Israel, as well as a naval blockade that has hindered imports of parts and solid fuel materials, Iran is utilizing existing components to assemble new missiles.

The WSJ pointed out that "this undermines a major achievement of the war touted by the U.S. and Israel," demonstrating "how difficult it is to completely dismantle Iran's missile program and bolstering Iran's ability to endure a war of attrition between its weapon stockpiles and U.S. and Gulf interceptor missile inventories."

Tal Inbar, a senior analyst at the U.S. non-profit Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), said, "Without airstrikes on the facilities, damaged infrastructure can be repaired, and new parts can be purchased from other countries and stockpiled," adding that "it is extremely naive to think that Iran is not rebuilding its missile production capabilities."

The Trump administration, including U.S. President Donald Trump, has previously asserted that Iran's military power has been significantly weakened.

Without directly commenting on whether Iran has resumed ballistic missile production, a White House official told the WSJ, "Iran is now weaker than ever before, and President Trump will never allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons."

Sean Parnell, senior spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Defense, also stated that 90% of Iran's drone, ballistic missile, and naval industrial base has been destroyed, claiming that Iran's offensive capabilities have been "significantly degraded."

However, the WSJ noted that Iran has rebuilt its military capabilities by taking advantage of a brief lull following a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on ending the war signed with the U.S. last June.

A U.S. official said Iran may have resumed small-scale production during this period and appears capable of assembling at least several hundred missiles using currently held components.

Jim Lamson, a visiting Iranian military expert at King's College London and former CIA analyst, estimated that Iran had stockpiled components such as completed warheads, airframes, and guidance and control systems before the war, meaning the scale of missiles Iran could remake could reach "hundreds or perhaps thousands."

Senior analyst Inbar assessed that Iran still possesses thousands of ballistic missiles.

Of course, a full-scale resumption of missile production by Iran is expected to be difficult.

Arab regional officials pointed out that damaged chemical facilities required for liquid propellant manufacturing and industrial mixers for solid fuel production are obstacles to Iran fully resuming missile production.

However, Iran demonstrated its ability to rapidly rebuild missile production despite suffering massive hits during the '12-day war' with Israel in June of last year.

Consequently, Israel strongly warned against Iran's moves to rebuild its ballistic missile forces late last year, hinting at the possibility of additional military action.

In this regard, Nicole Grajewski, an Iran strategy expert at Sciences Po, diagnosed, "You can try to destroy the facility, or you can try to destroy the missile itself, but rebuilding capacity [for Iran's missile production] is faster than the nuclear program, and the facilities are highly dispersed," adding, "Iran built such sophisticated missile infrastructure precisely out of concern for these very points [additional airstrikes]."

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.