U.S. Intelligence Stunned by Scale of Iran’s Missile Arsenal — Thousands of Missiles and Launchers Revealed
WASHINGTON — A classified assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies has revealed that Iran possesses thousands of missiles and launch systems — a stockpile far exceeding previous American estimates — sending shockwaves through Washington’s defence and foreign policy establishment.The joint report, compiled by the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), found that Tehran has systematically…
WASHINGTON — A classified assessment by U.S. intelligence agencies has revealed that Iran possesses thousands of missiles and launch systems — a stockpile far exceeding previous American estimates — sending shockwaves through Washington’s defence and foreign policy establishment.
The joint report, compiled by the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), found that Tehran has systematically expanded and concealed its missile infrastructure across underground bunkers, mountain tunnels and dispersed rural sites, specifically designed to survive a pre-emptive military strike.
The scale of the arsenal has left senior Pentagon officials visibly unsettled. One defence official, speaking anonymously, admitted: “The numbers are significantly higher than what we had modelled. This changes the threat calculus considerably.”
Regional security experts warn that despite Iran’s constrained economy and international isolation, its missile programme grants it an asymmetric deterrent capable of striking targets across the entire Gulf region — including U.S. military bases in Qatar and Bahrain, Saudi oil infrastructure, and Israeli population centres.
“Iran has deliberately built a capability that punches far above its economic weight,” said a senior analyst at a Washington-based think tank. “Even a fraction of this arsenal, if deployed, could cause catastrophic disruption to regional stability and global energy markets.”
The revelation has prompted the Pentagon to order an urgent reassessment of U.S. missile defence posture in the Middle East. Israel, meanwhile, has placed its Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow multi-layered defence systems on heightened alert.
Gulf states have reportedly requested emergency security consultations with Washington as concerns mount over the implications of Iran’s expanded military reach.
