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Ceasefire Rebuilds Arsenal
Western intelligence services, citing Bloomberg, said that over eight weeks of a ceasefire with the US, Iran has most likely replenished its missile stocks with new Russian weapons and restored a significant part of its missile arsenal.
“Western intelligence sources, citing Bloomberg, suggested that Iran may have rebuilt large parts of its missile arsenal during the ceasefire that began on April 7”
The reporting says Tehran has about three-quarters of the munitions it had before the war and can easily increase that number, including unspecified Russian missiles that were probably produced last year.
From 28 February to 8 April, when the ceasefire came into force, Iran launched more than 1,850 missiles across the region and at least twice as many Shahed-type drones.
US and Israeli estimates suggested that they destroyed about two-thirds of Iran's launchers during the first month of the war, while US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in mid-March that the Iranian regime's offensive capability had been reduced by 90%.
Underground Depots and Claims
The accounts describe many Iranian ballistic missiles and launchers as having been "entombed", meaning they were covered by debris that blocked the entrances to the underground storage facilities where they were kept.
Tehran most likely used the ceasefire to reopen these depots and move its stockpiles, with Bloomberg also noting that the storage depots, which were buried underground, contain ballistic missiles and missile launch platforms.
Al-Jazeera Net, citing Bloomberg, said a source—whose name the agency did not reveal—claimed Iran may have exploited the ceasefire, which lasted about two months, to reach underground storage facilities whose entrances had been closed off by American-Israeli bombardment.
In the same reporting, Bloomberg quoted Kelly Griko, a researcher at the Washington-based Stimson Center, that missile industrial production would not pose a problem for Iran even in wartime.
Strategic Stakes and Retaliation
Bloomberg, as relayed by multiple outlets, said the replenishment and restored arsenal would give Iran the ability to carry out a retaliatory strike at virtually full strength if hostilities resume.
“Bloomberg, citing Western intelligence services, has reported that over eight weeks of a ceasefire with the US, Iran has most likely replenished its missile stocks with new Russian weapons and restored a significant part of its missile arsenal”
The reporting also frames a dispute over how much of Iran’s arsenal remains, with US President Donald Trump saying last week that Iran had only 21-22% of its missiles left while intelligence assessments in March indicated around 60% of its pre-war missile stockpile left at the height of the US and Israeli air campaign.
Beika Waser, the defense affairs official at Bloomberg Economics, said that despite the tactical successes claimed by the United States, they "have not achieved their objectives of crippling Iran’s defense industrial base or significantly weakening its missile program."
The same set of accounts said that in the first month of the war, the United States and Israel estimated they had destroyed about two-thirds of Iran’s launch platforms, and that U.S. Secretary of War Pete Higsyth stated in mid-March that the offensive capacity of the Iranian regime had fallen by 90%.
