Wall Street Journal: Attacking Iran hasn’t eliminated its missile threat
The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that the attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran have destroyed the missile threat it represents, but have not completely eliminated it.
The WSJ reported that the United States and Israel have bombed Iranian missile launchers, targeting some of them several times during the nearly month-long war, but Tehran’s missiles are still flying.
“Air strikes that inflicted heavy casualties at the beginning of the war on Iran’s bases and missile launchers, close to the Gulf coastline, subsequently prompted Iran to launch longer-range missiles from deep inside its territory,” military analysts and former US officers said.
Tehran continues to respond to the attacks, prolonging the conflict and raising its economic cost, it said.
Iran fires far fewer missiles, but directs them at more vulnerable targets in Israel and Arab countries in the region, and in some cases causes more damage.
“The ability of Iran’s missile systems to withstand continued US-Israeli bombardment increases the likelihood that one of the war’s main goals won’t be achieved, which is to prevent Tehran from threatening the Middle East with missiles and drones, while President Trump seeks to end the war quickly in the coming weeks”.
It noted that the US and Israeli attacks on Iran destroyed the missile threat, but didn’t eliminate it completely.
It also stated, based on analysts’ opinions, that Iran’s missile arsenal has already been damaged, but a cessation of the war while the arsenal remains could allow the missiles to be recovered from underground bases and production plants rebuilt.
