Berlin, Germany (Weltexpress). The US is engaged in a war of attrition against Iran that is draining its resources, whilst Iran is demonstrating adaptability and resilience.
A few days ago, an article appeared in the Washington Post that should really have shaken up the security policy establishment in the US and its Western vassal states. However, the Western mainstream media meticulously ignored this exposé, written by two military policy experts, which runs counter to the prevailing narrative of the US as an unbeatable superpower. The headline read: “US attacks unlikely to force Iran to surrender, say US intelligence reports.”
The reports warn the Trump administration that Iran is unlikely to soften its negotiating position as a result of the US air campaign and other military actions. Instead, the US agencies foresee a prolonged stalemate between Washington and Tehran. This would mean that President Trump’s current course of increasingly extensive attacks against Iran has failed in the face of reality on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, according to accounts from those close to him, Trump is in “revenge mode against Tehran” and is convinced that the only thing “Iran understands is military force”. Which is why he “sees few good options left, apart from continuing to bomb the country”. But even this is now causing growing problems for the Pentagon and its Secretary of Defence, as stocks of the missile weapons used for US long-range strikes are running increasingly low.
Ammunition shortages and tactical weaknesses of the aggressor state, the USA
The rapid pace at which the US military is using up some of its most advanced air-defence interceptor missiles and precision-guided strike weapons against Iran is, according to US military and intelligence officials familiar with internal assessments, “a major source of tension within the Trump administration. ‘The use of interceptor missiles and precision-guided weapons in the Middle East is causing concern within the Trump administration,’ reported the US news channel CBS on 23 July 2026. This marks the first time that at least part of the US public has learnt of the US military’s dilemma, something RT-DE readers have long been aware of.
The CBS report goes on to state: “Dwindling stocks of defensive interceptor missiles and long-range missiles have become a point of contention between senior military and civilian government officials, who are weighing the demands of the war against Iran against the need to maintain deterrence (meaning the US’s potential to pose a threat) against other adversaries, including China.”
According to the US officials quoted, the rate at which precision munitions are being used against Iran cannot be sustained. The US defence industrial base is not designed to produce missiles quickly enough to replace those fired by US Central Command, let alone replenish munitions stocks to pre-war levels. As a result, “stocks would come under increasing pressure as military operations continue”.
CBS further reports that the broadcaster had been informed by a US “partner country” in the Gulf “that a pause in the fighting is necessary, particularly given the intensity of the Iranian attacks affecting Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait stated earlier this week that Iran had struck its infrastructure and damaged power stations and seawater desalination plants”.
For Pete Hegseth, who has declared himself the “US Secretary of War” and constantly rants about the total destruction of the Iranian military and an absolute US victory, all of this is unjustified scaremongering. In an interview last month on ‘Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan’, he categorically denied that there was a crisis regarding stockpiles. Whilst he conceded that the production of some types of ammunition might take longer than others, he argued that this was irrelevant because: ‘We have plenty of it, and we’re producing more than ever before. Our stockpiles are large and will only grow larger in the future,’ said Hegseth.
However, this is contradicted by the change in attack tactics adopted by US Centcom commanders, who are increasingly relying on other precision-guided glide weapons, such as the GPS-guided glide bomb fitted with ‘Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) kits’ or small-diameter bombs. To drop these bombs, the bombers must fly quite close to the targets in Iran, thereby becoming targets for Iranian air-defence missiles. Until now, US aircraft had fired their long-range stand-off weapons from a distance of up to 400 kilometres from the target.
Meanwhile, with its missiles and drones – which are not only superior to those of the US in terms of both number and technology, but are also far better protected against attacks – Iran has disabled the entire US early-warning system across the Gulf region, including Jordan, and has consequently largely destroyed the exorbitantly expensive US missile defence batteries, such as the Patriot system. At the same time, Iran is relocating key facilities deeper into the interior of the country, beyond the reliable range of US long-range weapons. Many of the current US attacks appear to be missing their mark or hitting only secondary targets.
Iranian resilience and counter-attacks
Satellite images and reports show that Iran is rebuilding the infrastructure damaged by US attacks – missile bases in the mountains, bridges, ports and production facilities – with surprising speed. Western and Israeli officials are expressing concern about this high level of industrialisation and reconstruction capabilities.
At the same time, Iran is deliberately targeting critical US facilities in the region: US long-range radars, ammunition depots and US aircraft at King Faisal Air Base in Jordan and at other US bases in the Gulf states. The Strait of Hormuz remains largely under Iranian control. Even under heavy US air cover, two ships (the Kavomaleas and the Acheloos), which were attempting to pass near the Omani coast, were damaged by Iranian missiles.
Iranian weaponry and possible external support
The Kheibar-Shekan missile is regarded as the workhorse of the Iranian arsenal: inexpensive, mobile, precise and with a range of at least 900 miles (approx. 1,448 kilometres). Iran deploys it in complex attacks involving varying trajectories, manoeuvres and speeds. Some variants are equipped with a manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle (MaRV) with its own propulsion system, capable of making course corrections at Mach speeds even during terminal flight.
Several CIA stations and facilities – some of which are kept secret – were hit. Observers see this as a fundamental underestimation of Iran’s capabilities.
Overall, a picture is emerging in which the US is embroiled in a war of attrition that is depleting its resources, whilst Iran is demonstrating adaptability and resilience.
