Iran wants to mass-produce missiles, Israel says it may strike again

When the so-called 12-day war between Israel and Iran ended in June, neither side really saw it as an end to the fighting, more like a pause

Now, Iran says its goal is to build enough missiles to launch 2,000 all at once

The last time Israel and Iran came to blows, the Israeli Air Force took out two uranium enrichment centers

about half of Iran's arsenal of 3,000 missiles, and close to 80% of its launchers

After the fighting stopped on June 24th, both Israel and Iran essentially started rearming

and planning for the next engagement. In October, the New York Times reported Iran was shifting

toward mass strike readiness and putting its missile factories into 24-hour operation

Iran will definitely need some help to make that happen from either Russia, China, or North Korea

But ultimately, Tehran's goal is to build enough strike capability to overwhelm Israeli air defenses

During the 12 war Iran launched 500 missiles and more than 1 drones at Israel With the help of the US most were destroyed but a few dozen got through 31 Israelis were killed another 3 injured

There was also extensive damage to homes and buildings, including on two university campuses and a hospital

So, while Israel definitely came out ahead in June, experts say it would be unwise to discount Iran's current threats

I would take it very seriously. I mean, it doesn't necessarily mean that currently the Iranian is at capacity

I don't think that at this moment they have this capacity for now, but we definitely should be taking it very seriously

That's Avi Malamed, a former intelligence officer in the IDF and founder of Inside the Middle East

I caught up with him while he was literally on the road during a speaking tour

He says Iran, and specifically its leadership, the Mullah regime, is in a vulnerable position

For decades, the regime relied on its proxy forces around the Middle East, called the

Axis of Resistance, to project power and act somewhat as a deterrent

But after a couple of years fighting with the IDF those proxy forces are mostly dead or severely degraded Iran only real play now Building up the only other means of power projection it has its missile program

But here's the rub. While most of the missiles and launchers Iran has are made and stored in underground facilities

the country doesn't have the ability to launch those missiles from underground

They have to be taken above ground where they need to be prepped for launch

That takes time, making them vulnerable to attack. In June, when Israel was carrying out attacks from within Iranian airspace with impunity

it was because the Israeli Air Force had already decimated Iran's air defenses in previous attacks

Which is why Avi Malamed says Iran may want to build more missiles that can hit Israel

but without the ability to protect them before launch, missiles are meaningless

To the best of our knowledge and understanding, the Iranians are putting priority

in rebuilding their aerial defense capacities. And here they have some challenge

because again they are dependent upon importing those systems Major potential suppliers of such advanced systems are either China or Russia or North Korea China is reluctant to provide Iran with those capacities because of the UN sanctions

Russia is also not rushing to provide the Iranians with its most advanced entire capacities

And so in that regard, the Iranians are facing some significant challenge because they do realize that in any case, they must restore first those capacities

When the fighting stopped in June, Israel said it was willing to strike again if Iran tried to restart its nuclear enrichment program

That program suffered some major setbacks when the U.S. used B-2 stealth bombers to hit a couple of underground facilities

But Iran says it is still committed to developing a domestic nuclear program, regardless of what the U.S. or Israel says

So while it's not necessarily a foregone conclusion that Israel and Iran will start another war, it's extremely possible, maybe even likely

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