US officials say Iran retains significant military capability despite strikes

Iran continues to maintain substantial military capabilities, despite weeks of US and Israeli strikes, according to multiple US officials familiar with intelligence assessments.

The officials told CBS News in a report published on Tuesday that public statements by the White House and the US Department of War might understate the extent of Iran’s remaining military strength following the aggression.

According to three officials, about half of Iran’s stockpile of ballistic missiles and its associated launch systems remained intact at the start of a ceasefire announced by US President Donald Trump on April 7.

Officials also said roughly 60 percent of the naval arm of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) was still in existence, including fast-attack speed boats.

Observers commenting on the report cited Iran's defiance in the face of the pressure tactics, which have been applied by the United States to try to force the Islamic Republic to sumbit to Washington's demands, as a case in point concerning Tehran's confidence in its defensive and retaliatory capability.

In line with sustained rejection of, what Iran has denounced as, the US's maximalist demands, the Islamic Republic recently announced closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz to all traffic, saying it would not reopen the waterway unless Washington lifted an unlawful naval blockade it has imposed on the country.

On Wednesday, and amid the White House's continued insistence on narratives portraying the US's "success" in the aggression, the IRGC's Navy said it had intercepted and transferred to Iranian territorial waters two vessels for having committed violations in the Strait of Hormuz. It identified the vessels as the MSC-Francesca, which it said belongs to the Israeli regime, and the Epaminodes.

The CBS News report also cited the officials as saying that around two-thirds of Iran’s air force was still believed to be operational, depite claims that the aggression struck "thousands of targets," including alleged storage and production facilities.

A written statement submitted by the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency ahead of a House Armed Services Committee hearing also underscored that Iran retains the ability to inflict damage.

"Iran retains thousands of missiles and one-way attack UAVs that can threaten US and partner forces throughout the region," Marine Lt. Gen. James Adams wrote.

Contrast with official US statements

However, senior US officials have publicly described the aggression, known as the so-called Operation Epic Fury, in far more definitive terms.

"We've taken out their navy, we've taken out their air force," Trump said on Tuesday.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth offered an even stronger assessment at a Department of War briefing on April 8, saying, "Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield, a capital V military victory."

He added, "By any measure, Epic Fury decimated Iran's military and rendered it combat ineffective for years to come."

Reacting to such discourse, Iran's highest operational command unit said on Tuesday that the Islamic Republic's Armed Forces enjoyed the upper hand in the face of the adversaries, and, therefore, would not let Trump misrepresent the conditions governing the battlefield.

Major General Ali Abdollahi, commander of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, said, "Holding the upper hand, the Armed Forces do not allow the lying and delusional president of the United States to exploit the situation or fabricate false narratives about conditions on the ground, particularly regarding the management and control of the Strait of Hormuz, during periods of silence in military confrontation."

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