IDF, Mossad officials shocked for the second time in two years by the speed of Iranian post-war recovery • IDF seeing a stunningly speedy turnaround in ballistic missile threat.
Israeli defense officials have been shocked by the speed of Iran’s recovery following the early 2026 war, The Jerusalem Post has learned. This includes both IDF and Mossad officials, though the military was the lead evaluator of targeting and the harm from the targeting of the Islamic Republic’s defense sector.
Numerous foreign media reports have poked holes in specific aspects of Israel’s narrative of military success setting back Iran’s military industrial complex by years already dating back to March of this year, but for months, apolitical IDF expert officials held the line that the damage was so extensive that even if some specific claims were off, Israel’s general narrative of setting Iran back years held.
Numerous foreign media reports have poked holes in specific aspects of Israel’s narrative of military success setting back Iran’s military industrial complex by years already dating back to March of this year, but for months, apolitical IDF expert officials held the line that the damage was so extensive that even if some specific claims were off, Israel’s general narrative of setting Iran back years held.
Four months after the main war ended in April, the Post understands that the IDF is now seeing a stunningly speedy turnaround that it did not expect and not in merely one or another specific area, but in many areas, including regarding the ballistic missile threat. Part of what is surprising in this story is that the IDF was already surprised by the Iranians in this area of rapid recovery twice: in October 2024 and January 2025.
After striking 20 critical ballistic missile and industrial military targets in Iran in October 2024, the IDF claimed that it had set back Iranian future missile production by a year or more. By early 2025, the IDF had already seen the Iranians fully recover their high-speed ballistic missile production pace, so much so that the military moved up a possible fall 2025 attack to June 2025. (Read More)
