IRGC announced they targeted air base used for American attack in southern Iran
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced that it struck an air base which was used for an attack against a telecommunications tower on the island of Sirik, located in the southern province of Hormozgan, according to the Fars news agency. "Following the attack by the American military against a communications tower on the island of Sirik in Hormozgan province an hour ago, fighters of the IRGC Aerospace Force targeted the air base from which the attack originated and the pre-designated targets were destroyed," the statement said. The IRGC did not specify the location of the specific facility while they warned the United States that in the event of a new aggressive act, the response will be even more extensive. Earlier, it had been reported that air defense systems were activated in Kuwait, while sirens sounded across the country.
CBS: Iran struck Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait, there are injuries
Iran struck the Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait, resulting in the injury of four American military personnel and three civilian contractors, CBS News reported, citing a source. According to the same source, after receiving medical care, the injured returned to their duties. Earlier, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) accused Iran of launching a ballistic missile in the direction of Kuwait.
US attack
Over the weekend, American forces carried out attacks against an Iranian radar and drone command centers. "Over the weekend, US Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted defensive strikes against an Iranian radar and drone control centers in Garuk, Iran, and on Qeshm Island," the command's statement said. According to CENTCOM, the strikes were carried out in response to alleged "Iranian aggressive actions," including the downing of an American MQ-1 drone operating over international waters. "American fighter aircraft responded immediately, destroying Iranian air defense systems, a ground command center, and two offensive one-way drones, which posed a clear threat to ships transiting regional waters," CENTCOM added. The command clarified that no member of the American armed forces was injured during the operation. For their part, the Revolutionary Guards claimed they downed the American drone because it had entered Iran's territorial waters with hostile intentions.
Trump: The deal with Iran will be good for the US and its allies
Trump attacks his critics and argues that a future deal with Iran will be "good for the US and its allies." In a new statement regarding the situation with Iran, Trump argued that Tehran "really wants to make a deal" and that any deal reached "will be good for the United States and for those on our side." In his statement on the Truth Social platform, Donald Trump also attacked his domestic critics, whom he accused of "whining negatively" about the way he handled the war. "It is much harder for me to do my job properly and negotiate when political actors constantly repeat that I should move faster or slower, go to war or not go to war," Donald Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform. "Just sit back and relax. Everything will turn out fine in the end – it always does!" stated Donald Trump.
The US is in a "much worse position" after the war with Iran
The US has emerged from its conflict with Iran in a significantly weakened strategic position, according to Colin Clarke, executive director of the Soufan Center. "I don't think the administration has really grasped how bad the situation is for the United States," Colin Clarke told Al Jazeera. "We replaced the Supreme Leader with a much more hardline and younger remnant of the IRGC. The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed. And the United States has exhausted its missile stockpile, a fact that will limit our ability to act anywhere else in the world," points out Clarke. He also added that a major mistake was the way the US treated its allies. "We were dismissive toward the Europeans, we didn't consult them, we mocked them, and then we say: 'Why aren't you coming here to get your own oil and open the Strait?'" "This constitutes a serious failure in the exercise of foreign policy and leaves the United States in a much worse position than it was even a year or two ago," emphasized Colin Clarke.
The revelations of CNN
Tehran is ready to launch many more long-range missiles against Israel and other Middle Eastern countries after successfully and quickly recovering its buried missile reserves - an effort that, according to experts, highlights the limits of American strategic bombing. For weeks, attacks by the United States and Israel limited Iran's access to its underground missile facilities, destroying roads and burying tunnel entrances.
They didn't succeed…
However, satellite images examined by CNN show that Iran used simple equipment, such as bulldozers and dump trucks, to counter these costly operations, a fact that suggests Tehran's missile capabilities cannot be neutralized simply by strikes on tunnel entrances, according to experts. Although Iran and the US have reached a preliminary agreement for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, months of negotiations are still required to finalize the details.
Iran returns
If hostilities resume, Iran is in a position to "continue launching missiles as long as it has launchers and crews, even if production has stopped," said Sam Lair, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, who analyzes Iran's missile capabilities. "Nothing prevents the launchers from being equipped with the significant stockpile of missiles that the Iranians still possess." At a missile base in Dezful, Iran, four of the five entrances to the underground facility had been reopened by May 12. Only one remained blocked.
Access restored to 50 of 69 underground tunnels
During the conflicts, Iran worked on excavating the tunnel entrances under extremely dangerous conditions, as the USand Israel frequently struck the equipment used for the work. This effort allowed Tehran to continue missile launchesthroughout the war, albeit at a significantly reduced rate. Since the ceasefire more than seven weeks ago, restoration work has accelerated significantly. The CNN analysis found that Iran has now restored access to 50 of the 69 tunnel entrances that had been struck by the US and Israel at 18 underground missile facilities.
Repairs at bases
Iran has also repaired other parts of the bases, including roads that had been bombed to prevent their use by mobile launchers. Satellite images show that almost all craters have now been filled, while in two places, the roads have been re-asphalted. "The American military is effective at achieving tactical successes, and the trapping and suppression of Iranian missile power is a prime example," stated Sam Lair. "However, if this is not accompanied by realistic strategic goals and a viable theory of victory, it can end in strategic failure." Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell did not answer specific questions regarding the CNN findings, repeating a previous statement that "the American military is the strongest in the world and has everything it needs to act at the time and place of the President's choosing."
One of the main goals of the war
President Donald Trump has repeatedly referred to the Iranian missile arsenal as one of the reasons for the war, with its destruction being a key goal. In a post in March on the Truth Social platform, Trump included the "complete degradation of Iranian missile capabilities, launchers, and any related infrastructure" among the five main goals of the conflict. Iran's network of underground missile bases, the construction of which began more than 20 years ago, offers significant protection to the missiles and launchers. The great depth of some facilities, which are located under hundreds of meters of rock, limits the options of American and Israeli forces to destroy them.
What the satellites show
Satellite images from a missile base north of Kermanshah show that two tunnel entrances that had been bombed by the US and Israel have now been reopened. The roads leading to the tunnels, which had been destroyed to impede the access of launchers, have been repaired and asphalted. In the first weeks of the conflict, military forces focused on destroying the tunnel entrances. In combination with efforts to locate and neutralize launchers, this significantly limited Iranian missile launches. The attacks caused extensive damage, burying most entrances under huge volumes of debris and destroying the access roads. Satellite images that CNN had examined showed facilities such as the Isfahan North Missile Base, one of the most important underground missile bases, to have sustained severe damage, with the tunnels covered by rubble and launchers destroyed outside the facilities. The US and Israel also attempted to dismantle Iran'sentire missile production chain, from electronics factories to facilities producing missile fuel and missile bodies.
At least 1,000 missiles in underground facilities
After the ceasefire agreement of April 8, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth stated that Iran will be forced to "dig up its remaining launchers and missiles without the possibility of replacement. It no longer possesses a defense industry." Experts estimate that Iran still possesses approximately 1,000 missiles stored in its underground facilities. According to analysts, this stockpile, located deep beneath the surface, is unlikely to have sustained serious damage from surface attacks, especially since the Israeli military had followed a similar tactic during the Twelve-Day War last year. "They have been preparing for such a war for 20 years," said Timur Kadyshev, a senior researcher at the Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy of the University of Hamburg. "They are extremely prepared."
An intensive restoration operation
To reactivate the bases, the Iranians used various construction and earthmoving machines. In the satellite images, loaders can be seen removing debris and trucks filling craters with earth. At a base near Isfahan, the US and Israelcarried out numerous attacks to block four tunnel entrances. In two of them, at least 18 craters were visible, an indication of the large number of munitions used. At the beginning of May, a satellite image showed a dump truck filling the craters, while the other two entrances had already been restored and the roads to them had been re-asphalted. At a base near Khomeyn, in mid-April, a satellite image recorded at least 10 construction vehicles working on the restoration of a tunnel entrance.
Underestimating the Iranian arsenal
As Iran regains access to its missiles and restores the functionality of the missile bases, analysts are concerned that the threat still posed by this arsenal is being underestimated, particularly due to the reduction of American stockpiles of interceptor missiles. Attacks on Iranian missile factories may also not prevent Tehran from reconstituting its production capacity as quickly as the US and Israel would like. During the Twelve-Day War of June 2025, some of the same factories had also been attacked. Although the recent strikes were much broader, satellite images show that Iranhad already rebuilt some facilities that had been struck last June.
Faster than expected…
Assessments by American intelligence agencies show that Iran has already begun to restore key military capabilities, restarting drone production and replacing missile launchers and production infrastructure. "The Iranians have exceeded all the timetables that the intelligence community had set for the restoration of their capabilities," an American officialtold CNN. For Timur Kadyshev, this contrast of technologies highlights the difficulty of a military response to Iran. "It takes extremely advanced and very expensive weapons to cause this type of damage, while the restoration is low-tech – a few bulldozers are enough."
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