Iran said recovering military abilities faster than expected, producing drones again

China and Russia helped Islamic Republic blow past US intelligence community predictions, sources tell CNN; Pakistani field marshal in Tehran, as regime reviews latest US offer

Iran is rebuilding its military capabilities faster than expected, including by restarting its production of drones, CNN reported Thursday, as Tehran said it was “reviewing” the latest US proposal to end the war.

One US official was cited by CNN as saying that Iran could fully restore its pre-war capabilities in as little as six months, saying Tehran has “exceeded all timelines the IC [intelligence community] had for reconstitution.”

The shortened timeline is due in part to assistance that Iran has received from Russia and China, the sources told CNN, alleging that Beijing has been supplying the Islamic Republic with missile components since war broke out on February 28.

China’s foreign ministry denied this, claiming the CNN report is “not based on facts.”

The accelerated pace at which Iran is moving to restore its arsenal and capabilities suggests that it would still be a formidable foe, able to wreak havoc on the region should the US make good on repeated threats to begin its military campaign anew, the sources said.

US Central Command declined to comment on the report, and a Pentagon spokesman insisted that the US military “has everything it needs to execute at the time and place of the president’s choosing.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the Islamic Republic was examining Washington’s latest offer for a deal to end the war, while repeating Tehran’s demands for the release of its assets frozen abroad and an end to a US naval blockade, imposed amid the ceasefire in response to Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The army chief of mediator Pakistan was due in Iran on Thursday for “talks and consultations” with Iranian authorities, according to Iranian media.

The reported visit by Field Marshal Asim Munir, a powerful figure with a growing role in Pakistan’s foreign relations, came a day after US President Donald Trump warned that negotiations to end the war were on the “borderline” between a deal and renewed strikes.

Munir was at the center of the action during the only direct negotiations to take place since the war started. Those failed, with Iran accusing the US of making “excessive demands.”

Since then, the two sides have sent to each other multiple proposals, with the threat of renewed war looming all along.

“It’s right on the borderline, believe me,” Trump told reporters Wednesday. “If we don’t get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We’re all ready to go.”

He said a deal could come “very quickly” or “in a few days”, but warned Tehran would have to provide “100 percent good answers.”

Tehran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday accused Washington of seeking to restart the war, while warning of a “forceful response” if Iran is attacked.

“The enemy’s movements, both overt and clandestine, show that despite economic and political pressure, it has not abandoned its military objectives and is seeking to start a new war,” Ghalibaf said.

Iran’s newly created Persian Gulf Strait Authority said in a post on X that there would be a “controlled maritime zone” at the Strait of Hormuz.

The authority, which was set to manage the strait, set the zone as the “line connecting Kuh-e Mobarak in Iran and southern Fujairah in the UAE at the eastern side of the strait, to the line connecting the end of Qeshm Island in Iran and Umm Al Quwain in the UAE at the western side of the strait.”

It said transit through the area to pass through the strait would require coordination and authorization from the authority.

United Arab Emirates’ presidential adviser Anwar Gargash responded to the announcement in a post on X, calling it an infringement on the UAE’s sovereignty.

“The regime is trying to establish a new reality born from a clear military defeat, but attempts to control the Strait of Hormuz or infringe on the UAE’s maritime sovereignty are nothing but pipe dreams,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, IRNA reported on Thursday that 20 Iranian sailors who were on board a vessel seized by the US off the coast of Singapore have returned home after diplomatic efforts between the Iranian foreign minister and his Pakistani and Singaporean counterparts.

Amid the tension with the US, Iran executed two people on Wednesday, according to the country’s Tasnim news agency, which identified the two as Ramin Zaleh and Karim Maroufpour.

The men were accused of creating a group to disrupt the country’s security and having membership in a “terrorist” organization, Tasnim said.

Iran is the world’s second-most prolific executioner, after China, according to rights groups. The Norway-based group Iran Human Rights says the Islamic Republic executed at least 1,500 people last year, one of the highest numbers worldwide.

Israel and the US launched a war against the Iranian regime at the end of February, with a shaky ceasefire in place since April 8.

Since the start of the conflict, Iran has ramped up executions, particularly in cases involving alleged espionage or security-related charges.