Israel: Iran Retains 1,700 Missiles, 80,000 Drones

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Israeli security assessments say Iran still possesses about 1,700 ballistic missiles with the range to strike Israel, along with an estimated 80,000 drones and thousands of short- and medium-range missiles, as the US and Iran prepare for the possibility of renewed fighting. Israel’s Channel 12 first reported the figures on Sunday, citing Israeli security officials, and the Institute for National Security Studies data cited by Israeli media.

The drones are assessed to be intended mainly for strategic targets in the Persian Gulf rather than for Israel, Channel 12 reported.

The assessment did not say how many of the drones are attack drones or how many could be used at once. The shorter-range, solid-fuel missiles are seen as suited to targets such as US bases in the Gulf, and the combination of long-range missiles aimed at Israel and shorter-range weapons aimed at the Gulf would put simultaneous pressure on layered air and missile defenses, according to analysis by Defence Security Asia.

The assessments say Iran’s underground storage in hardened mountain complexes allowed a large share of its missiles and components to survive US and Israeli strikes, and that buried launchers could be recovered through excavation, so the number of operational launchers may exceed the number confirmed destroyed. They say Iran has rebuilt only slowly by assembling missiles from stockpiled parts inside protected facilities, and Channel 12 reported that Iran has produced only several dozen new missiles since Operation Roaring Lion, the joint US-Israeli campaign launched in February, without returning to large-scale production. Israel Hayom, citing foreign reports, put production at 150 to 300 missiles a month.

The 1,700 figure is nearly 800 below what Israeli estimates put Iran’s arsenal at before the war, according to Israel Hayom. The IDF and US intelligence estimate that more than 200 of Iran’s 400 ballistic missile launchers were destroyed. Israeli officials said before the war that Iran had about 2,500 missiles able to reach Israel. Analysts say any renewed barrage would draw down Iran’s remaining stock faster than it could be replaced, while forcing Israel and the US to spend interceptors at a high rate.

The estimates come as the US builds up forces in the region, with two carrier strike groups and 14 warships reported, and as Washington weighs possible new strikes on Iran. Iran says it will respond to any attack immediately and without geographic limitation, and a senior Iranian official told Reuters that a deal remains far off.