Israel races to take out Iran’s military & production sites as Trump insists talks with regime are ‘going very well’

Peloni:  Iranian intransigence has been their worst strategy.  The expectation that Trump will roll over and go away defies the reality that Washington is intent upon having Iran shift from being a Chinese facing game piece in the Great Game of Geopolitics to becoming an American facing game piece.  This would give America the control over energy which aligns with US strategy for the future.  If Trump fails to achieve this goal, Iran will remain seated with China, giving them a great advantage in the further development and exploration of AI, which is limited by access to energy reserves.  Controlling energy reserves has an economic component of course, but the future will be built on AI, and this requires ready access to energy reserves such as exist in Venezuela and Iran.  Controlling these reserves are literally the key to the winning the AI war…but this requires Trump having his way in Iran and Trump’s Achilles heal remains to be the length of the war which should be understood to be on a timer.  The Iranians understand this, which is why they feel they can manipulate Trump into accepting defeat, but for Trump, not gaining control over Iran comes with significant counterpunch in the form of him not being able to control Iran’s vast energy reserves.

Israeli officials express uncertainty over Trump’s intention, IDF seeks to damage regime as much as possible

All Israel News Staff | Published: March 27, 2026

Graphic of Iranian areial defense system production site following Israeli Air Force strikes.  Photo by IDF.

The Israeli military is racing to take out as much of Iran’s military equipment and the production sites necessary to restore it, amid uncertainty over how long U.S. President Donald Trump intends for the war to continue.

The president reiterated in a Truth Social post on Thursday that talks over a ceasefire with Iran “are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the fake news media and others. They are going very well.”

“They’re lousy fighters, but they’re great negotiators,” he quipped in his opening remarks at the cabinet meeting, insisting that “They are begging to make a deal. Not me.”

However, Iranian representatives have roundly denied that talks are ongoing, while a regime official told Reuters on Thursday that the 15-point U.S. proposal was “one-sided and unfair,” serving only US and Israeli interests, and lacking “the minimum requirements for success.”

President Trump on Iran: "They want to make a deal. The reason they want to make a deal is they have been just beat to shit." pic.twitter.com/vIYjf5IlFQ

— CSPAN (@cspan) March 26, 2026

Amid this uncertainty, the Israeli military has shifted the focus of its bombing campaign from trying to undermine regime stability to deepening the destruction of the regime’s production capability, trying to ensure the rebuilding process after the war will take as long as possible, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The IDF’s daily updates about its airstrikes have reflected that shift, with most recent updates showing a focus on production sites rather than individual soldiers and checkpoints of the internal security forces.

Sources told WSJ that Israel’s leadership is convinced Trump could end the war soon. But sources close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Ynet News on Thursday evening that Israel’s political and military leadership is uncertain of Trump’s intentions and doesn’t know how much time remains for the military to achieve all its goals in Iran.

“At present, the positions of Tehran and Washington make the likelihood of an agreement somewhere between slim and nonexistent. Still, Trump could surprise us,” an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post.

On Thursday, Trump declared, “As per Iranian government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of energy plant destruction by 10 days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 p.m. Eastern Time.”

But unnamed mediators told the WSJ that the Iranian regime had not made such a request, and continues to demand more concessions before even agreeing to the suggested in-person meeting in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, an official from one of the mediating countries told The Times of Israel (TOI) he thought Trump is leaning toward ordering a U.S. ground operation in the Gulf to ramp up military pressure further.

Thousands of Marines and Paratroopers of the 82nd Airborne Division are due to arrive in the theatre of operations in the coming days.

But another official from a mediating country told TOI that capturing and holding on to Kharg Island would drag out the war by several weeks, while both officials agreed that the regime is not likely to capitulate, regardless.

Several reports this week suggested that Gulf leaders, particularly from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, want the U.S. to go all the way to toppling the regime instead of a negotiated end to the war.

On Thursday and Friday, most Israeli strikes in Iran focused on production sites; however, an overnight strike also killed the commander of the IRGC Navy and his intelligence chief, in a strike apparently meant to weaken Iran’s ability to continue the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, as well as defend against a potential capture of the islands in the area.

The Israeli military said on Thursday that more than 1,000 production-related targets have been struck so far as part of a campaign that includes “the systematic targeting of production lines, with the aim of degrading the regime’s manufacturing, development, and research capabilities across its military industries.”

On Friday morning, the IDF hit Iran’s central site for the production of missiles and sea mines in the central city of Yazd.

“The site was used for the planning, development, assembly, and storage of advanced missiles intended for launch from cruise platforms, submarines, and helicopters toward both mobile and stationary maritime targets. This is the site in which the Iranian Navy develops the majority of their missiles and sea mines,” the IDF explained.

The WSJ also reported that the Israeli military has already begun returning to some targets to deepen damage there.

U.S. Central Command said that U.S. and Israeli strikes have badly damaged or destroyed most of the regime’s facilities to build missiles, drones and warships.

CENTCOM chief Adm. Brad Cooper said Wednesday that his forces had hit 10,000 targets in Iran and Israel had hit “thousands more.”