Satellite Images Show Iran Rapidly Rebuilding Military Sites Including Kangavar Base and Dezful Tunnels Despite 90 Percent Destruction Claims

The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday, citing satellite imagery and Israeli and Western officials, that Iran has rapidly repaired military and civilian infrastructure damaged by months of US and Israeli strikes 12. Planet Labs and Airbus imagery documented restored tunnel entrances and access roads at missile bases near Kangavar, Kermanshah and Dezful within weeks of the strikes, along with partial reconstruction at an IRGC-linked shipyard in Bandar Anzali and a missile-component plant near Tehran 2. The Dezful missile base was struck twice, in June 2025 and again in March 2026, yet Iran had already begun digging out its tunnel entrance within months of the second strike 2. An Israeli official told the Journal that strikes at some deeply buried facilities only collapsed tunnel entrances, leaving the weapons inside intact, and a second official said Iran retains the know-how to rebuild nearly all its damaged capabilities 12. Ran Kochav, a former commander of Israel's air and missile defense forces, said the pace matches Iran's recovery after the 12-day war in June 2025, while Jim Lamson, a former CIA analyst now at King's College London, said some advanced components could take months or years to replace 2.