CENTCOM rejects reports on Iran's current missile and drone arsenal

The United States Central Command (US CENTCOM) has rejected reports claiming that Iran still retains most of its pre-war missile and drone arsenal, saying the figures circulating in open sources are inaccurate, as questions grow over the actual impact of the recent US-led campaign against the West Asian country.

Speaking before the Senate Armed Services Committee, CENTCOM Commander Admiral Brad Cooper rejected media reports and leaked intelligence assessments claiming Iran retained nearly 70-75 per cent of its missile inventory and mobile launchers after Operation Epic Fury, saying the figures circulating in open sources were “not accurate.”

The remarks came after reports by major US-based media outlets, including The Washington Post and The New York Times, cited unnamed US officials claiming Iran still possessed a substantial portion of its missile force. The Wall Street Journal separately reported that Iran had lost over half of its missile launchers and roughly half of its missile stockpile during the conflict.

However, Cooper declined to reveal precise classified assessments during the hearing. He said that the joint US-Israeli campaign had significantly degraded Iran’s offensive capabilities, particularly its ability to conduct large-scale missile and drone attacks across the region.

According to The War Zone (TWZ), the CENTCOM chief also argued that the campaign had severely damaged Iran’s defence industrial base and its ability to replenish weapons quickly. Other reports cited Cooper claiming nearly 90 per cent of Iran’s missile, drone and naval industrial infrastructure had been degraded during the operation.

“We eliminated more than 90 per cent of Iran’s once-massive inventory of over 8,000 naval mines, with more than 700 airstrikes on Iranian naval mine targets,” Cooper said during the hearing.

The debate over Iran’s remaining arsenal has become central to assessing the effectiveness of the US-led strikes. While US officials have projected the operation as a major military success, intelligence leaks and media assessments have suggested that Iran still retains thousands of short- and medium-range ballistic missiles hidden in underground facilities.

“Before OEF, the Iranian Air Force flew between 30 and 100 sorties each day. Today that number is zero. We destroyed or rendered non-mission-capable Iran’s fixed-wing airfields, hangars, fuel storage, and munitions stockpiles, and we knocked out 82 per cent of its air defence missile systems along with the radar and command architecture that tied them together,” Cooper said.

Speaking about the naval vessels and targets so far, Cooper informed that US forces have destroyed about 161 vessels in total across 16 classes of warships.

The TWZ report noted that despite the degradation claims, Iran continues to pose a threat through underground infrastructure and remaining drone capabilities.