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Iran's military more capable than Trump administration is publicly acknowledging, sources say

By
Jennifer Jacobs
Jennifer Jacobs
Senior White House reporter
Jennifer Jacobs is a senior White House reporter at CBS News.
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Jennifer Jacobs,
Eleanor Watson
CBS News Reporter
Eleanor Watson is a CBS News multi-platform reporter and producer covering the Pentagon.
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Eleanor Watson,
James LaPorta
James LaPorta
National security coordinating producer
James LaPorta is the national security coordinating producer for the CBS News' Washington bureau. He is a former U.S. Marine veteran infantryman and veteran of the Afghanistan war.
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James LaPorta

/ CBS News

Washington — The Islamic Republic of Iran maintains more military capabilities than the White House or Pentagon has publicly admitted, according to multiple U.S. officials with knowledge of intelligence on the matter. 

About half of Iran's stockpile of ballistic missiles and its associated launch systems were still intact as of the start of the ceasefire in early April, three of the officials told CBS News.

Roughly 60% of the naval arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is still in existence, the officials said, including fast-attack speed boats. On Wednesday, Iranian gunboats attacked several commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, shortly after President Trump announced he was unilaterally extending a ceasefire to allow more time for peace talks.

Iranian air power has been significantly degraded but not erased, said the officials, who requested anonymity from CBS News because they were not authorized to discuss the matters publicly. 

About two-thirds of Iran's air force is still believed to be operational, the officials said, after an intensive U.S. and Israeli campaign that struck thousands of targets, including storage and production facilities. 

Previously, the president and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have described the U.S. effort, called Operation Epic Fury, as essentially destroying Iran's military capacity.

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

The defense secretary has gone further in his public statements, saying, "Operation Epic Fury was a historic and overwhelming victory on the battlefield, a capital V military victory," Hegseth said at a Pentagon press briefing on April 8, shortly after Mr. Trump declared a ceasefire with Iran. He added, "By any measure, Epic Fury decimated Iran's military and rendered it combat ineffective for years to come." 

Battle damage assessments show that the joint operation has destroyed much of Iran's conventional navy, according to a U.S. official who sought anonymity to share confidential details with CBS News. 

But the naval arm of the IRGC, built for asymmetrical warfare and equipped with many smaller vessels, remains partly intact, officials said, and it's that navy that's hampering oil shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. 

The head of the Defense Intelligence Agency  a written statement ahead of a House Armed Services Committee hearing that said Iran can still inflict damage. 

"Iran retains thousands of missiles and one-way attack UAVs that can threaten U.S. and partner forces throughout the region, despite degradations to its capabilities from both attrition and expenditure," Marine Lt. Gen. James Adams wrote.

Asked for comment for this article, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the war has been a success, with more than 13,000 Iranian targets struck. 

"In less than 40 days, the United States military delivered a crippling series of blows to the Iranian regime," he said.

Parnell said 92% of the Iranian Navy's largest vessels have been destroyed, and about 44 minelayers destroyed. 

It was "the largest elimination of a navy over a three week period since World War II," Parnell said. "Secretary Hegseth could not be prouder of our warfighters' resolve, and mainstream media's obsession with discounting their efforts is telling."

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