Iran has reportedly regained access to most of its underground facilities, including missile launchers, including in the Strait of Hormuz, according to a new report.
The New York Times detailed that a classified assessment from early March shows that Tehran currently has access to 30 of its 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz, which could strengthen its threats to continue disrupting traffic through the key waterway.
Overall, the country still has about 70 percent of its mobile launchers and 70 percent of its pre-war missile stockpile, the assessment said. It also regained access to 90 percent of its underground missile storage and launch sites across the country.
The report stands in contrast with claims from President Donald Trump, who has said Iran has "nothing left in a military sense" and made repeated such assurances.
Asked about the assessment, White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said the country's military has been "crushed" and the country's leadership knows that its "current reality is not sustainable."
Anyone who believes that "Iran has reconstituted its military is either delusional or a mouthpiece" for the country's forces, she added.
Joel Valdez, the acting Pentagon press secretary, also reacted, saying: "It is so disgraceful that The New York Times and others are acting as public relations agents for the Iranian regime in order to paint Operation Epic Fury as anything other than a historic accomplishment."
However, the conflict remains at a stalemate and negotiations have not made progress. Trump said on Monday that negotiations are in "life support" after the regime's "unbelievably weak" response to Washington's latest proposal.
Speaking to reporters at the Oval Office, Trump said Iranian leaders had agreed to hand over the country's enriched uranium but then backtracking.
"Two days ago, they said, 'You're going to have to take it,'" Trump said. "But they changed their mind because they didn't put it in the paper."
The president went on to reject claims that he doesn't have a clear plan to end the war. "It's a very simple plan: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and they won't have a nuclear weapon," Trump said, calling it "the best plan ever."
Another report from Tuesday claimed that the U.S. military is considering renaming the war "Operation Sledgehammer" if the ceasefire collapses and Trump orders operations to begin.
