TEHRAN — Iran’s senior military commanders said on Wednesday the country continued producing strategic missiles throughout the recent war despite sustained attacks, warning that any future military action against Iran will face a prepared armed force and nationwide resistance, as a British newspaper reported growing concerns over U.S. missile stockpiles.
Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, the senior spokesman for Iran’s armed forces, said strategic missile production never stopped during the fighting despite unprecedented military pressure.
“During the 40 days of war, even after the violation of the memorandum of understanding, the production of our strategic missiles never stopped,” Shekarchi said.
“Missiles and drones were being produced in the heart of the war. As the saying goes, they went directly from production to use, while our stockpiles were also replenished.”
He added that some of Iran’s missile production infrastructure remains undiscovered despite extensive intelligence efforts.
“The enemy, with all the intelligence-gathering tools and technologies at its disposal, still does not know where some of our missile production centers are and remains confused,” he said.
Shekarchi said the attacks caused tactical losses, including the martyrdoms of senior commanders and civilians, but failed to achieve their strategic objectives.
“The enemy failed to achieve the collapse of the system, the partition of the country, the destruction of Iran’s nuclear and missile capabilities, the halt of missile production, the seizure of the Strait of Hormuz, strategic islands such as Khark, or the plundering of Iran’s oil and gas resources,” he said.
According to Shekarchi, Iranian military planners anticipated the aggression months in advance and conducted nationwide military exercises beginning in late 2024, preparations he said contributed significantly to Iran’s performance during the war.
He said Iran expected renewed hostilities after the ceasefire and continued strengthening its military capabilities accordingly.
Echoing that assessment, Army Commander Major General Amir Hatami said Tehran has “not even a needle’s tip” of trust in its adversaries.
“We knew the enemy would not abide by the agreement and would commit another act of folly,” Hatami said during a visit to Army units in Isfahan province. “Therefore, we did not lose a single moment and took steps to enhance our combat capability.”
Hatami warned that any attempt by U.S. forces to enter Iranian territory would be met with widespread resistance.
“They thought that if they set foot in Iran they would be welcomed, but instead they were confronted with widespread hatred and the indescribable steadfastness of the Iranian people,” he said.
“That proved to the enemy that if it sets its filthy foot on Iranian soil, it will face millions of people who will confront them with whatever they have in their hands.”
He also said the United States underestimated Iran’s military capabilities.
“America placed itself in the position of Pharaoh and imagined that no army in the world could stand against it, but we have stood firm, we control the Strait of Hormuz and we fire at the Americans,” Hatami said.
The army chief further said that an Iranian Air Force F-5 fighter successfully struck a heavily defended military base before returning safely and that opposing forces subsequently shot down three of their own F-15 aircraft.
The commanders’ remarks came as Britain’s Telegraph reported growing concern within the U.S. defense establishment over shortages of key missile stockpiles following the recent conflict.
According to the newspaper, officials fear the Pentagon has not fully communicated the extent of dwindling interceptor missile inventories to the White House, while some senior officials may be reluctant to deliver unwelcome assessments to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
One source told the newspaper that “sharing bad news, or realistic news, doesn’t seem to end well for anybody,” while another described what the report called a “culture of silence” inside the Pentagon.
The report cited a March assessment by the Royal United Services Institute estimating that the United States and its allies expended more than 11,000 munitions during the first 16 days of aggression against Iran and warned they were roughly one month away from exhausting several categories of critical munitions.
It also cited projections by the Center for Strategic and International Studies that U.S. inventories of Tomahawk cruise missiles and THAAD interceptors may not recover to pre-war levels until 2031 and 2029, respectively.
The Telegraph said uncertainty over the scale of remaining missile inventories has become increasingly significant as President Donald Trump has renewed military pressure on Iran and threatened further strikes against Iranian targets