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Four of Iran’s key ballistic missile manufacturing locations and at least 29 ballistic missile launch sites have been damaged in the first four weeks of the U.S.-Israeli offensive, undermining Iran’s central military strategy, according to a Washington Post review and analysis by experts.

Since the war began, the U.S. and Israel have conducted thousands of strikes across a range of military targets. The Post’s examination provides a comprehensive accounting of the damage to ballistic missile sites, as well as what it means for the future of the overall program.

Strikes have destroyed aboveground launching facilities, temporarily blocked access to missiles stored underground and halted Iran’s ability to immediately build new missiles, according to satellite imagery, and Iranian military and defense experts who reviewed the findings. But the experts cautioned that Iran’s ballistic missile program has not been destroyed.

“They’re still shooting. That’s a key indicator,” said Tom Karako, director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington-based think tank, referring to Iran’s continued use of missiles.

Some experts said they doubted the missile program could ever be completely destroyed, citing the regime’s record of rebuilding after prior attacks and access to foreign supply chains that can replenish destroyed manufacturing equipment. Mobile missile launchers are also being used, and the number of those is unknown.

“I don’t see Iran making a fundamental change to their missile strategy if the regime survives,” Nicole Grajewski, a nonresident scholar at the Carnegie Endowment, said. “Missiles are still going to be the ultimate deterrent against attackers and the foundational military strategy.”

The Trump administration has identified the destruction of Iran’s missile program as a central goal of the war.

At a press briefing on March 19, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. attacks destroyed “the factories, the production lines that feed their missile and drone programs.” Separately, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the same day that Iran’s missile and drone arsenals have been “massively degraded” and that these attacks compared to the ones of June last year are destroying the factories that “produce the components to make these missiles.”

The U.S. and Israel have not publicly identified all the specific missile sites they have hit.

In his briefing, Hegseth said that Iranian retaliatory missile attacks against its neighbors had decreased by 90 percent since the beginning of the war on Feb. 28. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has acknowledged that Iran still retains missile capabilities.

Israel claimed on March 21 that for the first time, Iran fired intermediate-range ballistic missiles at the joint U.K.-U.S. Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean, almost 2,000 miles away.

Production sites hit

The manufacturing, development and testing of ballistic missiles is sustained through a network of campuses overseen by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and Iran’s Ministry of Defense, according to Iranian military experts.

Four of the most important sites, which make fuel for the ballistic missiles, the experts said, have suffered severe damage in attacks by the U.S. and Israel that is greater than what was inflicted during the 12-day war with Israel last June and in October 2024, when Israel attacked Iran.

The sites – Khojir, Parchin, Hakimiyeh and Shahroud military complexes – house the production of critical missile propellants and assemble the weapons for use.

“If you don’t have propulsion, the missile’s aren’t going anywhere,” Jim Lamson, senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said. Four experts who reviewed satellite imagery of the sites at The Post’s request said the damage has most likely halted Iran’s ability to produce short-range and medium-range ballistic missiles until facilities can be rebuilt.

Satellite imagery shows four main areas at the Khojir missile complex, just east of Tehran, were hit by the U.S. or Israel. The strikes targeted complex production systems that make solid and liquid fuel necessary to power the ballistic missiles, according to Sam Lair, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

Ballistic missiles are fired miles into the air before returning to the ground at extremely high speeds. Those in the Iranian arsenal are fueled by either solid or liquid propellants, according to experts. Solid fuel is the most common, typically used for shorter range munitions and more efficient during war. Liquid propellants typically power the longest-range missiles, but have more time consuming fuel-loading processes, which makes them more vulnerable to attack.

In total, at least 88 structures were destroyed at Khojir, according to satellite imagery taken on March 24.

The IRGC’S Shahroud production complex in northeast Iran houses the research, development and mass production of solid fuel. It was heavily attacked by the U.S. or Israel, satellite imagery shows, leaving at least 28 damaged or destroyed structures.

At the Parchin military complex east of Tehran, where solid propellant is made, 12 structures were hit, according to March 12 imagery. On the outskirts of the capital, 19 structures were hit at the Hakimiyeh military complex, including facilities that make liquid propellant and launchers, March 14 imagery shows.

Sean O’Connor, an imagery analyst at the security intelligence firm Janes, told The Post in an email that if Iran is unable to rebuild its missile forces, it will lose one of its most important defensive strategies in the Middle East.

Launch bases attacked

At least 29 missile launch bases have been hit by airstrikes, according to imagery, severely undermining Iran’s ability to fire ballistic missiles, experts told The Post. Experts said the exact number of ballistic missile launch sites in Iran is not known but estimated there to be about 30. Most of these bases include underground missile storage facilities that are accessed through tunnels cut into mountainsides, according to experts. U.S. and Israeli strikes have hit many of these tunnel entrances, blocking access to where the missiles are kept, satellite imagery shows.

“These strikes will significantly hamper operations,” Lair said. Citing the destruction of base infrastructure, he added “it now takes longer to set up launchers, which gives the U.S. and Israel more time to identify and destroy them.”

Bases in central and western Iran are mobilized for medium-range strikes on Israel, while those along the Persian Gulf have been used to fire short range missiles at the Gulf states, Lamson said.

The Khorgu missile base along the Gulf has been struck at least twice by Israel or the U.S., according to imagery. At least 15 facilities were flattened and two tunnel entrances were hit.

Imagery of the Imam Ali missile base in western Iran shows nine aboveground structures and at least two tunnel entrances were hit, impeding access to the weapons underground, O’Connor of Janes said.

However, many experts said this impact is likely temporary. “It seems hard to permanently knock those bases out,” said Jeremy Binnie, another analyst at Janes. “You can neutralize them in theory but Iran will just keep digging them out and repairing.”

(c) 2026, The Washington Post · Jarrett Ley 

 

{Matzav.com}

A new election survey indicates that Likud is gaining strength, climbing to 28 Knesset seats, while former IDF chief Gadi Eisenkot has emerged as the leading choice to head the anti-Netanyahu bloc.

The poll, published Sunday night by Kan 11, comes about a month after the launch of Operation “Roaring Lion” and reflects shifting political momentum within both the coalition and opposition camps.

Likud, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, rose to 28 seats—up from 25 in the previous survey. Meanwhile, the party of former prime minister Naftali Bennett, still the largest faction within the anti-Netanyahu bloc, slipped by one seat to 19.

Other opposition parties also saw slight declines. Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid dropped to 7 seats, while Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu fell to 8.

By contrast, Eisenkot’s party, “Yisra!”, posted a significant gain, jumping by four seats since the last poll to reach 13 mandates, making it the second-largest party within the opposition bloc. The Democrats party, led by Yair Golan, held steady at 9 seats.

Several parties failed to cross the electoral threshold in the poll, including Benny Gantz’s Blue and White, Yoaz Hendel’s Reservists Party, Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, and the Balad party led by Sami Abu Shehadeh. If the Arab parties were to reunite under a joint list, they would collectively secure an estimated 13 seats.

In terms of political blocs, the Netanyahu-aligned camp stands at 53 seats, up from 51 in the previous poll. The opposing bloc holds 67 seats; however, without cooperation between Jewish parties and Arab factions, that number would drop to 56—short of a governing majority.

Respondents were also asked who should lead the anti-Netanyahu bloc. Eisenkot topped the list with 24% support, compared to 18% for Bennett, despite Bennett heading a larger party within the bloc. Notably, 34% of opposition voters and even 18% of coalition voters selected Eisenkot as their preferred leader.

When asked who they trust most to manage the ongoing war, 32% of respondents chose Netanyahu. The results showed a sharp divide: 76% of coalition voters expressed confidence in Netanyahu, compared to just 6% among opposition voters. Among opposition respondents, the most trusted figure was IDF Chief of Staff Zamir, who received 45% support. Defense Minister Katz garnered only 3% overall, with similar levels of backing from coalition (3%) and opposition (1%) voters.

The poll also addressed concerns about military strain following remarks by Chief of Staff Zamir that the IDF could “collapse inward” due to the burden on service members. Overall, 66% of respondents said the statement worried them. The concern was significantly higher among opposition voters (85%) than coalition voters (40%). By demographic breakdown, 87% of secular respondents and 64% of traditional respondents expressed concern, compared to just 33% among religious and chareidi respondents.

Finally, participants were asked about the economic impact of the war with Iran. A total of 43% said their financial situation had been harmed, either moderately or severely. The divide persisted along political lines, with 31% of coalition voters and 45% of opposition voters reporting economic hardship as a result of the conflict.

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s 2026 state budget cleared the Knesset in a late-night vote, but the final moments of the session produced a political surprise: hundreds of millions of shekels were funneled to yeshivos and chareidi educational institutions after opposition lawmakers mistakenly backed the measure.

The budget, totaling roughly 699 billion shekels—the largest in Israel’s history during an ongoing war—was approved by a 62–55 vote in an overnight session between Sunday and Monday.

In the final minutes before the vote, coalition members introduced a series of objections of their own—an unusual move—which included provisions directing significant funding to chareidi institutions.

The maneuver had been kept quiet for days and appears to have confused opposition members. Some voted in favor of the objections, believing they were routine challenges to the budget. The result was a lopsided outcome: 107 lawmakers supported the measure, while only four opposed it.

Coalition officials said the step did not expand the budget, but rather released funds that had already been allocated and later frozen due to legal hurdles. Israel’s Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, had previously declined to approve the use of the funds, citing concerns tied to the exemption of yeshiva students from military service and related High Court rulings. The coalition ultimately advanced the funding through what it described as a technical budget adjustment.

Opposition leaders reacted angrily. Opposition chairman Yair Lapid accused the government of abusing the process to transfer political funds during a time of national emergency.

Lapid wrote: “There has never been anything like this in the history of the Knesset. Right now, in the plenum, the coalition added at the last minute hundreds of millions of shekels to the chareidi parties beyond the budget framework! This is a group of despicable thieves disconnected from the people, looting the citizens of Israel while they are in shelters.”

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett also blasted the move, calling it a disgraceful political grab carried out during wartime.

Bennett wrote: “The government of greed and draft-dodging carried out a nighttime grab to transfer an additional 800,000,000 shekels to chareidi education. Soon we will replace them and fix everything.”

Coalition figures rejected the criticism and instead faulted the opposition for failing to carefully review what they were voting on. Minister Ze’ev Elkin ridiculed the confusion, describing it as a parliamentary failure by the opposition.

Amid the political clash, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich struck an upbeat tone about the economy, saying that despite the war, Israel’s economic data points to stability and growth. He said the approved budget is intended to strengthen security while ensuring the economy continues to function.

{Matzav.com}