The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence assessments show that Iran has regained access to most of its ballistic missile sites, launchers, and underground facilities. According to the report, Iran has restored operational access to 30 of the 33 missile sites it maintains along the Strait of Hormuz; maintains approximately 70% of its mobile launchers across the country; has preserved approximately 70% of its pre-war missile inventory; and has regained access to approximately 90% of its underground missile storage and launch facilities.
If the Times is accurate, which is highly questionable when they deal with anything having to do with news, Israel, or Donald Trump, this means that this “ceasefire” has been nothing but a stall, allowing Iran to re-arm for war.
Naturally, President Trump expressed his own feelings about this report, attacking the “fake news media” on social media, where he wrote that “when the fake news says that the Iranian enemy is in good military shape relative to the U.S., it’s like treason in that it’s so wrong, and even absurd. They are aiding the enemy! These are American cowards. Iran had 159 ships in its fleet – and they are all currently lying at the bottom of the sea. They have no navy, their air force has been wiped out, as well as the technology, their ‘leaders’ are no longer with us, and the country is an economic disaster.” Only losers, ingrates, and idiots think you can criticize America!”
Either the Times or Trump is right, and Israel is preparing for both possible realities as they have extended the possibility of calling up 400,000 reservists, and the IDF continues to destroy Hezbollah bases, targets, and weaponry. The sense is that if America blinks first and pulls back, Israel may be forced to go it alone against the Islamic regime in Iran, but Israel knows that neither they nor the entire world can afford to have a nuclear Iran.
The Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier fleet, nuclear submarines, and God knows what else are in the region, ready for war. Let us pray that the Holy One, blessed be He, performs a miracle as He did in Shushan so many centuries ago (that we read about in the Book of Esther and study on the holiday of Purim), and save Israel, the United States, and the world by rendering the Islamic regime of Iran truly impotent, and by bringing peace into the region and the world.
Chazak u’Baruch
Rabbi Michael Barclay
May 13, 2026
26th of Iyya, 5786
41st day of the Omer
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