Iran is capable of restoring up to 70% of the military potential it possessed before the start of the armed conflict with the US and Israel.
“Elchi” reports that this was written by the American newspaper “The New York Times” (NYT), citing local experts.
The material notes that after several weeks of active missile attacks, Iran still possesses approximately 40% of its strike drone reserves and more than 60% of its missile launchers.
The publication stated that this volume of weapons is quite sufficient to block the passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz in the future.
The newspaper emphasized that it is noteworthy that at the time the ceasefire came into effect, Tehran had access to about half of its missile complexes. However, the Iranian side subsequently removed nearly 100 weapon systems hidden in underground caves and protected bunkers. This allowed the accessible arsenal to be increased to approximately 60% of pre-war levels.
“Despite differences in estimates of Iran’s missile reserves, the opinions of representatives of American agencies coincide on one issue: if necessary, Iran has enough weapons to paralyze maritime shipping in the region,” the article states.
It should be recalled that the US and Israel launched military operations against Iran on February 28. As a result, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a number of high-ranking officials were killed. Following this, Iran began launching strikes against targets identified in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Iraq, and Cyprus, where military bases of the US and its allies are located, in addition to Israel.
Iran, the US, and their allies agreed on a two-week ceasefire on the night of April 8, 2026. On April 11-12, negotiations were held between Iran and the US in Islamabad with the mediation of Pakistan. The hours-long talks ended without results due to differences in the parties’ positions.
On April 15, US President Donald Trump announced that the Strait of Hormuz was open for shipping, despite the continued naval blockade of Iranian ports. This step was taken to maintain relations with China. Later, on April 18, the Navy of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced the closure of the waterway, citing the violation of the ceasefire agreement and the ongoing blockade of Iranian ports by the US military.