A speedboat belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard approaches British-flagged oil tanker Stena Impero, July 21, 2019. (AP/Tasnim News Agency/Morteza Akhoondi)
Iran issued a sharp warning following the launch of President Donald Trump’s “Project Freedom,” with a senior commander saying any foreign military presence in the Strait of Hormuz would face a “very harsh response.”
Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters commander Ali Abdollahi said Iran “maintains and powerfully manages the security of the Strait of Hormuz,” urging all commercial vessels and oil tankers not to transit the waterway without coordination with Iranian forces “so that their security is not endangered.”
The warning comes as U.S. Central Command rolls out a large-scale escort operation involving naval destroyers, over 100 aircraft, unmanned systems, and roughly 15,000 personnel to guide ships through the strategic strait.
All IDF officers are careful to state that the military never promised regime change, and at most the opportunity to improve conditions for such a change.
A billboard with Iranian centrifuges illustrations and portraits of nuclear scientists killed in Israeli strikes is displayed on a street in Tehran, Iran August 29, 2025(photo credit: MAJID ASGARIPOUR/WANA (WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY) VIA REUTERS) ByYONAH JEREMY BOBAs a series of complex post-Iran war dilemmas are set into place, the IDF has shifted to focus almost all of its Iran-related attention to the nuclear issue, with the ballistic missiles and regime change questions mostly falling by the wayside.
In briefings, the IDF is spending significant time emphasizing the continued danger of the 60% enriched uranium which the Islamic regime might access under the rubble of its Isfahan and other facilities.
Discussing that issue, the IDF is making it clear that it would be ready to return to a full-fledged war to prevent Iran from using the uranium to move toward a nuclear weapon.
Yet in the same briefings, the ballistic missile threat which Iran wields, has used with lethal effect against the Jewish state four times since 2024, and for which ostensibly Israel went to war with Iran on February 28, is getting much less attention.
It is unclear if the downplaying of the threat relates to the messaging of the US, the greater relative danger posed by a nuclear weapon, the success of the current war in setting the threat back multiple years, or the post war fog surrounding how many missiles remain and how quickly Iran might rebuild the threat.
A large plume of smoke rises over Tehran after explosions were reported in the city during the night on March 28, 2026 in Tehran, Iran. (credit: GETTY IMAGES)
IDF never promised regime change
Of course, the IDF is still carefully following the ballistic missile threat.
However, the impression given in briefings is that the nuclear issue – which many had said was set back by years after the June 2025 operation – is far and above the focus for analyzing post-war moves.
Likewise, regime change has mostly disappeared from IDF briefings.
All IDF officers are careful to state that the military never promised regime change, and at most the opportunity to improve conditions for such a change.
On Friday, the IDF went so far as to admit that some of the attacks on low level Basij militias and checkpoints in Iran, may have been a waste of resources, since they did not change the situation on the ground.
Defending the attacks on the Basij and checkpoints in Iran, the IDF did not so much emphasize positive impact from these attacks as it noted that even during such attacks, it continued to strike other aspects of military threats which Iran presented to Israel.
Putting together the mosaic of targets in Iran the IDF said was like playing a complex symphony.
In terms of achievements in Iran, the IDF said that part of the success came from January 16, 2024 and March 7, 2024 decisions within the IDF to establish the now humongous Iran-focused air force unit.
Mockups of domestically-made Iranian missiles are displayed at an exhibition outside the Defence Museum in Tehran on March 31, 2026. (credit: AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES)
According to the IDF, this sub-unit within the air force has effectively become the military “Iran Command.”
Discussing other moves which the air force may make in the future, the air force said that it may establish a set full-time division devoted to the IDF Central Command for fighting Palestinian terror in the West Bank.
Since summer 2023, the IDF started to use the air force continuously more aggressively against West Bank Palestinian terror – something it had not done for years since the end of the Second Intifada in 2005.
On Thursday, the IDF Central Command announced that it was establishing a larger and more systematic targeting center for aerial and other heavy firepower, similar to what exists for the IDF Northern and Southern Commands.
“Lebanon stands at a crossroads,” the diplomatic mission said, calling for a meeting between the two countries’ leaders.
May. 1, 2026
JNS Staff U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio (third from right) attends working-level peace talks with Israel and Lebanon at the White House, April 23, 2026. Credit: Freddie Everett/U.S. State Department.
( May 1, 2026 / JNS )
The U.S. embassy in Beirut on Thursday called for direct engagement between Lebanon and Israel, saying the Land of the Cedars faces a “historic opportunity” to reclaim its sovereignty and shape its future.
“Lebanon stands at a crossroads. Its people have a historic opportunity to reclaim their country and shape their future as a truly sovereign, independent nation,” the embassy said in a statement posted on social media.
Direct talks between the neighboring states “can mark the beginning of a national revival,” the embassy said, adding that the current cessation of hostilities has created an opening for diplomacy.
The truce, the statement noted, was achieved at the request of President Donald Trump, giving Lebanon the opportunity to present its demands with the backing of the United States. It called for a meeting between Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“A direct meeting between President Aoun and Prime Minister Netanyahu, facilitated by President Trump, would give Lebanon the chance to secure concrete guarantees on full sovereignty, territorial integrity, secure borders, humanitarian and reconstruction support, and the complete restoration of Lebanese state authority over every inch of its territory—guaranteed by the United States,” the embassy said.
Despite recent talks between the Lebanese and Israeli ambassadors in Washington, Lebanon and Israel remain formally at war. And despite periodic ceasefires, tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border have remained high, with ongoing Hezbollah activity and Israeli military responses.
“This is Lebanon’s moment to decide its own destiny, one which belongs to all its people,” the embassy said. “The United States is ready to stand with Lebanon as it seizes this opportunity with confidence and wisdom. The time for hesitation is over.”
