The administration of US President Donald Trump has postponed preparations for a large-scale military operation against Iran. One of the key reasons was a significant reduction in the stock of interceptor missiles for Patriot systems.
This is reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Patriot stockpiles are rapidly decreasing
According to analysts at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), since the beginning of the war with Iran, the US has used at least 1,500 Patriot interceptor missiles, while fewer than 1,000 remain in reserve.
Experts warned in the spring that this rate of ammunition consumption creates risks for the country's defense capabilities.
"The reduced ammunition stockpiles created a risk in the short term. A war against a strong adversary like China would consume ammunition at a much faster rate than this war," the April CSIS report said.
The White House, for its part, refused to disclose current data on the number of Patriot and THAAD missiles used, explaining this by national security considerations.
Why the operation was put on hold
According to the WSJ, the US military was ready to launch an intensive campaign of strikes on Iran, which could last up to two weeks. Officially, the decision to postpone it was explained by the desire to give diplomacy a chance, but concerns about air defense stockpiles are also cited among the reasons.
According to the publication, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Dan Caine, reported to the White House about the reduction in interceptor stocks. He noted that this does not make the operation impossible, but significantly increases the risks.
At the same time, the commander of US Central Command, Admiral Brad Cooper, holds a different position. In his opinion, large-scale strikes could reduce Iran's missile potential, and therefore the problem of shortage is not critical.
What Trump says
The US President himself denies information about the shortage of ammunition. "We have much more ammunition than anyone in the world, and much more than we need," Donald Trump said.
Negotiations are possible again
Despite the preparation of a military scenario, Trump said that the diplomatic path remains open. According to him, the American side is already maintaining contacts with Iran. "There is a military way out, where we simply continue as we are now, and we can even increase the dose... Or there is a smarter strategy - to make a deal. And they want to make a deal," he said.
According to the US administration, Oman and Qatar are currently facilitating the resumption of the negotiation process between Washington and Tehran.
As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, in the meantime, US President Donald Trump said that neither the People's Republic of China nor the russian federation are involved in supplying weapons to the Islamic Republic of Iran. He also assured that the United States does not provide weapons to Ukraine, as it sells them only to NATO allies.
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