Iran Resumes Ballistic Missile Production Underground

Iran has resumed limited production of ballistic missiles inside underground facilities, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing US and Middle Eastern officials. The assessment indicates Tehran is assembling both liquid-propellant and solid-propellant missiles from components stockpiled before the war, including at the Khojir missile complex near Tehran, despite extensive American and Israeli strikes on its missile industry during the initial phase of the conflict. Production remains significantly below prewar levels, officials said, because of damaged factories, disrupted supply chains and the destruction of specialized manufacturing equipment. The details have not been independently verified publicly, and intelligence agencies have noted that determining exactly what workers are assembling inside protected underground complexes is inherently difficult. The reported restart complicates earlier claims that US and Israeli strikes had dealt a lasting blow to Iran's long-range weapons program. Analysts have increasingly pointed to the dispersed and partly underground nature of Iran's missile infrastructure as a major factor in its ability to recover.