WASHINGTON — A week ago, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that Iran’s missile program was “functionally destroyed,” with stockpiles depleted, decimated and ineffective.
On Thursday, he acknowledged Iran is “digging out” its remaining missiles and launchers, but said it no longer had the capacity to get more. “You have no defense industry, no ability to replenish your offensive or defensive capabilities,” he said.
Despite the massive bombing campaign by the United States and Israel, roughly half of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers were still intact and thousands of one-way attack drones remained in its arsenal as of earlier this month, NBC News reported. Multiple missile stockpiles buried underground in Iran were undamaged.
While peace talks stall and the U.S. expanded its efforts to block Iranian ports at the critical Strait of Hormuz, the Trump administration has been seeking to showcase that its military prowess caused devastation to Iran’s capabilities. But officials have offered conflicting messages on how bad that devastation has been.
U.S. intelligence reporting suggests China was planning to provide new air defense weaponry to Iran in coming weeks, NBC News reported earlier this week.
President Donald Trump said Wednesday that China, the primary buyer of Iranian oil, had agreed not to send arms to Iran, and was “very happy” with the U.S. effort to clear the Strait of Hormuz.
But Iran also obtained a satellite from China in late 2024 that it has used to monitor U.S. military sites across the Middle East this year, according to a person with knowledge of the satellite. Some of the monitored sites were later struck by Tehran.
The satellite captured images of Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia over several days in mid-March, the person said. Trump wrote in a Truth Social post March 14 that five planes at the Saudi base had been hit by Iran but had suffered little damage. There were no casualties. The Financial Times first reported on the satellite.
It also captured images near an American air base in Jordan and one in Bahrain, the person said. According to Iranian state media, those bases were struck by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps missiles and drones in March.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry denied the report, according to the statement sent to Reuters.
“Recently, some forces have been keen on fabricating rumors and maliciously associating them to China,” according to the statement. “China firmly opposes this kind of practice driven by ulterior motives.”
Iran downed an F-15E fighter jet shortly before Trump announced a two-week pause in attacks. A U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance met with Iranian officials in Islamabad, but failed to reach a permanent peace deal.
Trumps said talks could resume in the Pakistani capital "maybe this weekend," and said he would be willing to extend the ceasefire if needed. Iran’s powerful parliament speaker said Thursday that an end to Israeli strikes on Lebanon was “as important as a ceasefire in Iran.”
Fighting has raged between Israel and the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah. The sweeping aerial and ground assault by Israeli forces has destroyed bridges and towns, forcibly displaced more than 1 million people from their homes and killed 2,124 people to date, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
“In the Islamabad negotiations and afterwards, we have been seriously pursuing efforts to compel the adversaries to establish a permanent ceasefire in all areas of conflict,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf told Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, according to Iranian state news agency IRIB.
Trump announced Thursday that Lebanon and Israel had agreed to a 10-day ceasefire. “These two Leaders have agreed that in order to achieve PEACE between their Countries, they will formally begin a 10 Day CEASEFIRE at 5 P.M. EST.” he said in a Truth Social post. He also said he invited leaders from Israel and Lebanon to the White House for talks.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam welcomed the ceasefire in a post on X. There was no immediate confirmation of the deal from Israel. Hezbollah, which is also a powerful political party in Lebanon, has not been part of the talks.
Meanwhile, the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports has forced 13 ships to turn around in the Strait of Hormuz, a critical waterway through which some 20% of the world’s oil passed prior to the war. Iran had effectively blocked traffic through the strait, sending oil and gas prices rising. Continued control over the strait is a major sticking point in the U.S.-Iran talks, as is Iran’s nuclear capability.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said the blockade applied to “all ships, regardless of nationality, heading into or from Iranian ports.”
But he also said joint forces would actively pursue in other waters “any Iranian flagged vessel or any vessel attempting to provide material support to Iran,” including any ships that were part of Iran’s so-called dark fleet, which use deceptive shipping practices to mask contraband including Iranian oil, and skirt international regulations or insurance requirements.
Caine said the military would board ships it believed to be transporting contraband.
