Iran retains missile and drone production after eight months of U.S.-Israeli strikes, officials say, while White House insists its capabilities were destroyed

Iran has preserved parts of its missile and drone production capacity despite eight months of U.S. and Israeli strikes, enabling it to replenish its arsenals, Western officials told Bloomberg. They said Iran still has substantial stocks of ballistic and anti-ship missiles and can produce additional weapons; one official said Russia is also supplying missiles.

The assessment conflicts with the White House’s position that Iran’s military production capabilities have been destroyed. Spokesperson Anna Kelly defended the U.S. campaign, saying it had destroyed Iran’s ballistic missiles, production facilities and navy.

A separate assessment cited by Bloomberg said the strikes likely caused severe long-term damage to Iran’s prewar missile manufacturing capacity. Western intelligence assessments in June indicated Iran retained about three-quarters of its prewar munitions, according to Bloomberg.