Iran still maintains half its missile launchers and drones, US assessment finds: Report

Iran still maintains half its missile launchers and drones, US assessment finds: Report More than a month into the joint US-Israeli war on Iran, the Iranian military is still in possession of about half of its missile launchers and half of its suicide drones, a US intelligence assessment said, first reported by CNN on Thursday. The assessment flies in the face of the language of obliteration that US President Donald Trump and the Israeli government have often used to describe Iran's capabilities, from the opening days of the war until as recently as Wednesday. The scale at which Iran has launched retaliatory attacks against US assets and key resources in the Gulf has certainly decreased by at least half since early last month, based on figures provided by the Pentagon, as well as Middle East Eye's sources in the region. But Iran's targeting has also grown more precise, as it shifts away from a strategy first meant to overwhelm the air defences of US allies. Read more: Iran still maintains half its missile launchers and drones, US assessment finds: Report Israeli emergency personnel survey the damage after Iranian missiles struck Petah Tikva, Israel, on 2 April 2026 (Ammar Awad/Reuters)

More than a month into the joint US-Israeli war on Iran, the Iranian military is still in possession of about half of its missile launchers and half of its suicide drones, a US intelligence assessment said, first reported by CNN on Thursday.

The assessment flies in the face of the language of obliteration that US President Donald Trump and the Israeli government have often used to describe Iran's capabilities, from the opening days of the war until as recently as Wednesday.

The scale at which Iran has launched retaliatory attacks against US assets and key resources in the Gulf has certainly decreased by at least half since early last month, based on figures provided by the Pentagon, as well as Middle East Eye's sources in the region.

But Iran's targeting has also grown more precise, as it shifts away from a strategy first meant to overwhelm the air defences of US allies.