WASHINGTON — Iran is once again producing ballistic missiles using stockpiled components and working in underground facilities, according to a new report on Thursday, negating what the Trump administration has called a major accomplishment of Operation Epic Fury.
President Trump and his team claim that military operations obliterated Iran’s nuclear program and a vast majority of its conventional weapons infrastructure.
But Tehran is back in business, multiple officials told the Wall Street Journal, making liquid-propellant missiles, which have to be fueled just before launch, and solid-propellant missiles, which can be stored ready to fire.
The White House didn’t deny the report but said they are keeping a close eye on the situation.
“As President Trump has said, the United States is watching Iran and has eyes on their every move,” a White House official told The Post.
“At the direction of the Commander in Chief, the United States Military obliterated Iran’s nuclear facilities, decimated their defense industrial base, sunk their navy, and rendered their air force irrelevant. Iran is weaker now than ever before, and President Trump will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Destroying Iran’s missile inventory and its ability to produce new oneswas one of the major goals of Operation Epic Fury.
American officials claimed that 85% of Iran’s defense industrial base was razed in the bombing campaign, destroying most ballistic missiles, launcher vehicles, and long-range attack drones.
And Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in April that Tehran’s drone and missile program had been “functionally destroyed.”
But it appears some underground military assembly sites survived. And Tehran is using existing components instead of a new supply line.
The news comes as President Trump conceded the war with Iran won’t end until after the midterm election. He said he expects gas prices to remain high until then too.
Trump pointed the blame to Iran, saying they wanted it that way to try and affect the election outcome.
″They’re desperate to try and affect the election, so that we can get a nice weak group of people in there, and leave them alone and let them have their nuclear weapon,” he told reporters at Joint Base Andrews on Wednesday.
The president is trying to turn the page on the war, using it as part of his arguments about why Republicans should stay in power.
The war remains unpopular with a majority of Americans. A Reuters/Ipsos poll last month showed only 31% of Americans support it. And gas prices remain high, with oil going back over $100 a barrel this week.
Trump has shrugged off the criticism and held his course. He told Fox News’ Laura Ingraham he has no regrets about going to war.
“I don’t believe in the word regret,” he said.
“You can always question yourself a little bit. And a few people have asked me that. If I had it to do again, I’d do exactly as I did.”
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