WASHINGTON — Iran is using the ceasefire with the U.S. to dig out weapons, U.S. officials and other sources say. The regime has intensified efforts to excavate missiles and other munitions it had hidden underground or buried beneath rubble from U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
U.S. officials believe Iran is moving quickly to reconstitute drone and missile capabilities so it could resume attacks across the Middle East if President Donald Trump decides to restart military operations, the sources said.
Trump was scheduled to meet with his national security team Thursday to review options — including new military action — aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz and stripping Iran of any nuclear material, a U.S. official said. The commander of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, was set to brief Trump and his team on options and the status of a U.S. blockade, and Trump is expected to decide in the coming days, the official added.
A White House official said Trump’s planned mid‑May trip to China — a country with ties to Iran — is a factor in his decisionmaking. The visit to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping, already postponed once because of the war in Iran, is a priority, the official said.
People stand next to an Iranian missile after it fell near Qamishli, Syria, on March 4. Orhan Qereman / Reuters
Iran began blocking the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel began a bombing campaign on Feb. 28, a move that sent global oil prices higher. The U.S. retaliated with a naval blockade of Iranian ports in the strait, redirecting 41 vessels from transiting the waterway as of Wednesday, Central Command officials said. A temporary ceasefire went into effect April 8 to allow negotiations to end the war and reopen the strait, but talks have not produced results.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the U.S. has seen signs Iran is trying to rebuild its military capabilities. “We know what military assets you are moving and where you are moving them to,” he said April 16. “While you are digging out — which is exactly what you’re doing, digging out of bombed‑out and devastated facilities — we are only getting stronger. You are digging out your remaining launchers and missiles with no ability to replace them.”
A Defense Department spokesperson referred to Hegseth’s remarks when asked for comment.
White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said the U.S. military had achieved Trump’s objectives in the war: “Iran’s ballistic missiles are destroyed, their production facilities are demolished, their navy is sunk, and their proxies are weakened.” She added that Trump prefers diplomacy and has instructed negotiators to work toward a deal that prevents Iran from ever obtaining a nuclear weapon.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has suggested the war could be wrapped up by the start of Trump’s rescheduled China trip in May, saying on March 25 the administration had estimated “approximately four to six weeks,” though how the ceasefire and internal deliberations affect that timeline is unclear.
Iran has maintained it still has the ability to wage war and protect its interests. Despite public U.S. declarations that Iran’s military is largely defeated, U.S. intelligence assessments show Iran retained many capabilities after the strikes, including substantial portions of its ballistic missile inventory, more than half of its air force aircraft, and more than half of the IRGC’s naval components, U.S. reporting indicates.
Officials and sources say Iran has accelerated efforts in recent days to retrieve missiles and munitions as the prospect of renewed war grows and negotiations appear stalled. Experts and congressional aides have told U.S. outlets that Iran likely preserved some of its missile arsenal by using decoys and dispersing weapons around the country, and that it buried or otherwise concealed missiles and launchers before and during the fighting.
While U.S. and Israeli strikes have significantly reduced Iran’s arsenal, administration officials acknowledge Iran still retains some capabilities. Trump said in the Oval Office that Iran “has missiles, about 82% are gone, and they have drones, and most of them are gone.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio, serving as interim national security adviser, said Iran retains about half of its missile arsenal and stressed Iran’s domestic economic and political problems, but maintained that much of Iran’s military infrastructure had been destroyed.