Donald Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth (Reuters/File)
EA-Times Radio VideoCast: US Intelligence Exposes Trump’s Lies Over Iran War
UPDATES: US-Israel Wars, Day 75 — Trump Rejects Iran Proposal
UPDATE 1734 GMT:
Breaking the ceasefire in Gaza, Israel has targeted Hamas head Izz al-Din al-Haddad in an airstrike on Gaza City.
A “senior Israeli security official” told reporters of “initial indications” that al-Haddad was killed.
UPDATE 1727 GMT:
Israeli strikes on the Tyre district of southern Lebanon have wounded at least 37 people, including six hospital personnel, nine women, and four children.
One strike targeted a center run by a local NGO near a hospital. It housed people who fled their the war, adjacent to a hotel where more displaced were staying.
Hafez Ramadan, a resident near the building, said, “There are only women, children and the elderly here. Because of this strike, people have been displaced again.”
The UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, Imran Riza, condemned the “unacceptable” toll from ongoing attacks, saying “diplomatic efforts now offer a critical opportunity to stop the violence”.
Israel and Lebanese representatives are in a second day of talks in Washington.
Breaking | Israeli aircraft bombard a residential building in Al-Rimal neighborhood, west of Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/DTkmlSInEY
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) May 15, 2026
Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, said the Israeli military obstructed the UN Force in Southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) twice on Thursday.
South of the Lebanese town of Biyyada, “a tank halted peacekeepers escorting the Lebanese Red Cross, pointing its main gun towards the convoy, and instructed them to leave the area”, Haq told reporters. “The convoy was later able to proceed.”
In the second incident, an Israeli tank “briefly” blocked a UNIFIL patrol near Naqoura.
Three mortal rounds fired by the Israeli military landed about 70 meters (230 feet) from a UNIFIL position near Rmeish, a village near the Lebanon-Israel border.
Hezbollah said it carried out a series of coordinated attacks on Israeli soldiers across southern Lebanon, using drones, rockets, and artillery, over the last few hours.
UPDATE 1709 GMT:
Iran has reaffirmed that it is coordinating with Oman over the future management of the Strait of Hormuz, including fees on commercial shipping.
Speaking in India on Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi asserted “The Strait is located in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. There is no international waters in between.”
Oman has previously said it will not accept a toll system. However, EA has learned from a regional source that the Sultanate is speaking with Iran about an environmental charge.
The arrangement is connected with Saudi Arabia’s proposal of a non-aggression pact with Iran, seeking a lasting ceasefire over the waterway.
Around 20% of the world’s maritime oil and gas is transported through the Strait.
UPDATE 1549 GMT:
A “well-informed Iranian source” has confirmed that the Trump Administration has officially rejected Iran’s proposal in its entirety.
They reiterated Iran’s two-stage approach. Before the nuclear issue is discussed in the second stage, Tehran wants an end to the war on all fronts; the lifting of all sanctions; release of frozen assets; compensations for war damages and losses; and recognition of Iran’s sovereign right over the Strait of Hormuz.
UPDATE 0650 GMT:
“Informed sources” say Saudi Arabia has proposed a non-aggression pact between Middle Eastern countries and Iran.
The sources said the agreement could be similar to the Helsinki Accords, signed in 1975 by the US, European countries, and the Soviet Union to reduce tensions during the Cold War.
An Arab diplomat said most Middle Eastern states would support the pact. They that a weakened Iran still poses a threat to its neighbors, especially given the reduced US presence in the region. Tehran is also reportedly interested in such the agreement, and the sources said many European leaders have welcomed the Saudi initiative and asked other Gulf States to endorse it.
UPDATE, MAY 15:
The Israel Defense Forces have issued an “urgent” evacuation warning, ahead of airstrikes, for several villages near Tyre in southern Lebanon.
The IDF said one of its soldiers, a Staff Sergeant, was killed by Hezbollah mortar fire on Thursday night. Negev Dagan is the sixth Israeli soldier slain in southern Lebanon since the start of a supposed ceasefire on April 16, and the 19th during the US-Israel Wars on Iran and Lebanon. A civilian contractor was also killed.
UPDATE 2050 GMT:
A docked ship has been seized by “unauthorised personnel” as it was anchored off the coast of the UAE port of Fujairah near the southern entry to the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in India for a meeting of the BRICS group of nations, said, “In our view, the Strait of Hormuz is open to all commercial ships, but they must cooperate with our naval forces.”
UPDATE 1143 GMT:
Two people have been killed in an Israeli airstrike that destroyed a residential project in Srifa in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese Health Ministry says Israel has killed 2,896 people, including 589 women, children and medics since March 2. Around 1.2 million people have been driven from their homes.
UPDATE 1122 GMT:
Iran has given permission for some Chinese vessels to transit through the Strait of Hormuz following an “understanding over Iranian management protocols”, says an Iranian official.
The Revolutionary Guards said around 30 vessels have crossed the Strait with Iranian authorization since Wednesday evening.
Meanwhile, an Indian cargo vessel with 14 crew was attacked off the coast of Oman, just south of the Strait, on Wednesday. Some reports said the ship sank.
The vessel was transporting livestock from Berbera in Somalia’s breakaway Somaliland region to Sharjah in the UAE when there was a suspected explosion caused by a drone or missile.
The MSV Haj Ali as a 54-meter (177-foot) long wooden dhow. India’s Foreign Ministry said all the crew were safely recovered.
UPDATE, MAY 14:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a secret trip to the UAE during the US-Israel Wars, meeting Emirati President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
The leaders met for several hours on March 26 in Al Ain, an oasis city near the Oman border.
Netanyahu’s office said, “This visit has led to a historic breakthrough in relations between Israel and the UAE.”
An official said the director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, David Barnea, has made at least two visits to the UAE during the war to coordinate military actions.
The UAE Foreign Ministry denied the reports as “baseless”.
The UAE has attacked Iran, including a strike on a refinery on Lavan Island in the Persian Gulf in early April. It has drawn closer to Israel and the Trump camp, breaking with other Gulf States as it left the oil cartel OPEC.
Under economic pressure from Iran’s retaliatory strikes and control of the Strait of Hormuz, the Emirates have reportedly been in discussion with US Treasury Scott Bessent about an American credit swap.
See also EA-CEO Retort VideoCast: The Disorder of the “Global Royal Rumble”
Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded:
Netanyahu has now publicly revealed what Iran's security services long ago conveyed to our leadership.
Enmity with the Great People of Iran is a foolish gamble. Collusion with Israel in doing so: unforgivable.
Those colluding with Israel to sow division will be held to account.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 13, 2026
The UAE has been the leading target, even more than Israel, of Iran’s retaliation with almost 2,500 drone and missile attacks.
UPDATE 1902 GMT:
At least three people have been klled and several wounded by an Israeli air attack targeting a house in the town of Roumin in southern Lebanon.
Two people have been slain and one wounded by an Israeli attack on al-Abbasiya in the Tyre district.
More than 10,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed in Lebanon by the Israelis since the purported ceasefire on April 16, says the head of the National Council for Scientific Research.
Chadi Abdallah said 5,386 housing units were destroyed and 5,246 damaged.
UPDATE 1856 GMT:
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has posted:
In clear attempt to sow discord, Kuwait has unlawfully attacked an Iranian boat and detained 4 of our citizens in the Persian Gulf. This illegal act took place near island used by the U.S. to attack Iran.
We demand immediate release of our nationals and reserve right to respond.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) May 13, 2026
Kuwait said it arrested four members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, who tried to infiltrate Bubiyan Island by sea and injured a Kuwaiti soldier, on May 1.
The Interior Ministry said the Iranian naval officers were intercepted “aboard a fishing boat specially chartered to carry out hostile actions against Kuwait”.
UPDATE 1432 GMT:
Today’s toll in southern Lebanon from Israeli attacks has risen to at least 12 killed, including two children.
UPDATE 1355 GMT:
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon says it has been attacked by Hezbollah drones on several occasions in recent days, including a strike that caused damage to its headquarters.
On Monday, three “presumed” Hezbollah drones exploded “within meters” of UNIFIL’s Naqoura headquarters, where Israeli soldiers “could have been present”.
Yesterday, another drone exploded in the area outside the headquarters, and minutes later a “presumed” Hezbollah drone detonated inside the building.
No one was injured, but some buildings were damaged.
UPDATE 1135 GMT:
At least eight people, including two children, have been killed by three Israeli airstrikes targeting vehicles on the coastal highway 20 km (12.5 miles) south of Lebanon’s capital Beirut.
At least one person was slain and another wounded during an Israeli raid on a vehicle near the Rafik Hariri Sports City, north of Sidon.
UPDATE 1118 GMT:
Saudi Arabia launched numerous secret strikes on Iran, countering Tehran’s retaliatory attacks during the US-Israel War, say “two Western officials briefed on the matter” and two Iranian officials.
The report follows confirmation this week that the The analysts find Tehran has regained operational access to 30 of the 33 missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranians can use mobile launchers inside the sites to move missiles to other locations. In some cases, they can launch missiles directly from launchpads in the facilities.
Iran still has about 70% of its mobile launchers across the country and around 70% of its pre-war missile stocks, including ballistic missiles and a smaller supply of cruise missiles. Around 90% of underground missile storage and launch facilities are “partially or fully operational”.
Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have proclaimed that Iran’s missile capacity is “decimated” and “no longer” a threat. Trump said on March 9, only 10 days into the US-Israel War, that Iran’s missiles were “down to a scatter” and the Islamic Republic had “nothing left in a military sense.” Mr. Hegseth declared on April 8 that the US had “decimated Iran’s military and rendered it combat-ineffective for years to come”.
Officials said the US military, with limited stocks of bunker-busting munitions, chose to seal off entrances to many sites rather destroying all of the missiles inside. The operation yielded mixed results, amid limited supplies of “bunker buster” munitions and the Pentagon’s need to preserve some for potential wars with North Korea or China.
The US has fired around 1,100 long-range stealth cruise missiles during the war, almost the entire American stockpile. It has launched more than 1,000 Tomahawk missiles, about 10 times the number procured in a year.
Is Trump poised to restart the Iran war?: https://tritaparsi.substack.com/p/is-trump-poised-to-restart-the-iran
“Tehran believes Trump will attack in the next 48 hours – and is ready to counter-escalate….The Red Sea is now in play. That would dramatically widen the geographic scope of the conflict while placing even greater upward pressure on already volatile oil prices. Tehran is increasingly examining the possibility of severing the major submarine fiber-optic cable networks running beneath the Persian Gulf — arteries through which most GCC internet traffic flows, including billions of dollars in financial transactions. Iranian officials increasingly view this as a potential second Strait of Hormuz: a powerful new point of leverage capable of disrupting the global economy at enormous scale.”
Iran could fight a shIran could fight a shadow war with US for months after Operation Epic Fury failed to destroy missiles: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/trump-iran-military-destroyed-missiles-strait-of-hormuz-b2975673.html
“Iran has enough missile capability to continue fighting should Donald Trump choose to resume the war, US and Nato intelligence has assessed – and experts say it has several more cards up its sleeve…..Elsewhere in the region, the successful rearmament of Lebanese militant group Hezbollah appears to have caught the Israeli military by surprise, after it launched attacks in response to the US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February…….The Houthi Yemeni rebel group, meanwhile, have remained relatively quiet. But it has been suggested that they could be deployed to wreak havoc on the Bab el-Mandeb strait, another critical strategic waterway through which oil flows”.
Trump Faces Decision on Whether to Resume Strikes on Iran: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/15/us/politics/trump-iran.html
“Some 5,000 Marines and around 2,000 paratroops with the Army’s elite 82nd Airborne Division are in the region awaiting instructions, officials said. These troops could be used in an effort at getting to Iran’s nuclear material at its Isfahan atomic site, including securing the perimeter to try to protect the special operators tasked with going in, if such an operation was greenlit, military officials said. The troops could also be used in an effort to take Kharg Island, a hub of Iranian oil exports, though the military would need more boots on the ground to hold it, officials said.”
U.S. Intel. Confirms Iran Has Rapidly Restored Missile Arsenal and 90 Percent of Missile Bases: https://militarywatchmagazine.com/article/us-intel-iran-restored-missile-arsenal-90pct#google_vignette
“While Iran’s missile arsenal has remained largely intact, the United States’ own arsenals of weaponry optimised to destroying Iranian missile bases and launchers has been depleted much more rapidly. In late April an assessment published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). Intense combat operations have exhausted a staggering proportion of the country’s most advanced weaponry, including Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), Patriot, THAAD, SM-3, and SM-6 air defence interceptors, and Tomahawk cruise missiles. Stockpiles of the Precision Strike Missiles (PrSM), which was first used in the conflict including to strike Iranian missile sites, were confirmed in mid-April to have been almost totally exhausted.”
Trump’s remarkable military failure shows abject fiasco of his Iran war: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/trump-iran-missiles-us-war-failure-b2975636.html
“NATO sources tell The Independent that at least 60 per cent of Iran’s missiles have survived the Israeli-US attacks while its nuclear facilities remain largely undamaged”
Regarding, the preservation of Iran’s military capabilities, we now have all three major American newspapers reporting the same thing:
WSJ: Iran Has Thousands of Missiles and Could Retrieve Launchers, U.S. Intelligence Finds: https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/iran-has-thousands-of-missiles-and-could-retrieve-launchers-u-s-intelligence-finds-eaa230ec
WP: U.S. intelligence says Iran can outlast Trump’s Hormuz blockade for months: https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/05/07/cia-intelligence-iran-trump-blockade-missiles/
NYT: U.S. Intelligence Shows Iran Retains Substantial Missile Capabilities: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/us/politics/iran-missiles-us-intelligence.html
CBS: Iran’s military more capable than Trump administration is publicly acknowledging: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/iran-more-capable-than-trump-admin-publicly-acknowledging/
Bloomberg: Israel Says More Than 1,000 Iranian Missiles Still Threaten It: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-04-05/israel-says-more-than-1-000-iranian-missiles-still-threaten-it
Previously, during the actual fighting, Reuters had claimed there had been much more success: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/us-can-only-confirm-about-third-irans-missile-arsenal-destroyed-sources-say-2026-03-27/
This should not come as a surprise. Iran’s missile cities are buried under layers of mountainous hard rock – there are simply natural limits to what conventional ordnance can do and no operational limits to how Iranian forces can recover their stockpiles by excavation and other means.
I forgot to mention this CNN article back in early April:
US intelligence assesses Iran maintains significant missile launching capability: https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/02/politics/iran-missiles-us-military-strikes-trump
“The ability to go underground is a primary reason why launchers have not been further degraded, two of the sources familiar with the recent assessment told CNN. Iran has long hid its launchers in extensive networks of tunnels and caves — preparing for conflict like this for decades — making them particularly difficult to target. Two of the sources said Iran has had success in shooting and moving the mobile platforms, making it difficult to track the launchers, similar to the challenges the US has had with the Houthis in Yemen, one of Iran’s primary proxy forces.”