Money

The U.S. dollar just keeps getting weaker and weaker, and that is a major problem because our current standard of living depends on having a strong dollar.  When the U.S. dollar is strong relative to other national currencies, our paychecks stretch farther and we can buy more stuff.  Conversely, when the U.S. dollar is weak relative to other national currencies we can’t buy as much stuff and our standard of living goes down.  So the fact that the U.S. dollar is “having its worst start to the year since 1973” should deeply alarm all of us…

The US dollar — once a pillar of American economic strength — is having its worst start to the year since 1973.

President Trump’s whipsawing trade and economic policies have prompted investors to sell what is still the world’s dominant currency.

So far in 2025, the dollar index — which tracks the greenback against major currencies like the euro and pound — has dropped more than 10 percent.

That marks the sharpest first-half fall since the collapse of the gold-backed Bretton Woods system more than 50 years ago sent the dollar down 15 percent.

Were you alive in 1973?

If so, you probably remember that it was a horrible year.

The Vietnam War was raging, tax rates were sky high, crime rates were rising, the U.S. economy was in really rough shape, and Arab nations hit us with a crippling oil embargo.

Unfortunately, we are facing a similar scenario today.  We are involved in wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, the federal government is drowning in debt even though tax rates are still way too high, there has been rioting in the streets of Los Angeles and other major cities, economic conditions just continue to get worse, and a global trade war has erupted.

The rest of the world is losing confidence in us and in our currency, and the dollar index fell once again on Monday…

The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.15% to 97.05, on track for its sixth straight month of losses. It is set to mark its worst half-year since the 1970s.

The fact that the dollar index has now fallen for six consecutive months is a major national crisis.

Why aren’t more people talking about this?

The silver lining of having a weaker dollar is that it is supposed to make our products more competitive to the rest of the world and reduce our trade imbalances.  But instead, the U.S. current account deficit exploded to a brand new record high during the first quarter of 2025…

The U.S. current account deficit widened to a record high in the first quarter as businesses front-loaded imports to avoid President Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs on imported goods.

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Tuesday the current account deficit, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments into and out of the country, jumped $138.2 billion, or 44.3%, to an all-time high of $450.2 billion. Data for the fourth quarter was revised to show the gap at $312.0 billion instead of $303.9 billion as previously reported.

Meanwhile, our economy as a whole actually contracted at a 0.5% annualized rate during the first quarter of this year…

The U.S. economy contracted a bit faster than previously thought in the first quarter amid tepid consumer spending, underscoring the distortions caused by the Trump administration’s aggressive tariffs on imported goods.

Gross domestic product decreased at a downwardly revised 0.5% annualized rate last quarter, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said in its third estimate of GDP on Thursday. It was previously reported to have dropped at a 0.2% pace.

One of the big reasons why our economic performance has been so dismal is because the U.S. housing market is having “its worst year in decades”…

Meredith Whitney thinks the housing market is set for “its worst year in decades.”

The CEO of investment research firm Meredith Whitney Advisory Group and senior advisor at Boston Consulting Group told Yahoo Finance that 2023 and 2024 were both bad years, but it’s now looking even worse with about 4 million sales of existing homes expected.

Whitney thinks the actual number may be significantly below that figure. “That poses a real problem for the general economy,” she said.

The Federal Reserve needs to reduce interest rates immediately.

But Fed Chair Jerome Powell seems to think that everything is just fine.

I can certainly understand why President Trump is so frustrated with him.

On top of everything else, now that the student loan payment pause is over we are facing a student loan delinquency crisis of unprecedented magnitude…

Another significant development for consumer spending power is the return of student loan delinquencies. After a 43-month payment pause, nearly one in four student loan borrowers (23.7%) were behind on their student loans in the first quarter of 2025.

The scale of this change is unprecedented. According to the Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit published by the New York Fed, more than 2.2 million newly delinquent borrowers have seen their credit plunge by over 100 points, while more than 1 million have experienced drops of at least 150 points.

This isn’t just about student loans – it’s about access to consumer credit going forward. An estimated 2.4 million delinquent borrowers previously had credit scores above 620, meaning they qualified for mortgages, auto loans and credit cards before these delinquencies hit their reports. Many no longer do.

We have got a real mess on our hands.

Nobody can deny this.

Looking ahead, there is a tremendous amount of trouble looming on the horizon.

In fact, CNN just published an article that warns that “economic hell” could be coming this summer.

According to that article, one of the reasons why “economic hell” could be approaching is because the pause on “reciprocal tariffs” on most of our trading partners ends on July 9th…

The first is July 9, which marks the end of President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on what he termed as “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of America’s trading partners. Unless those countries reach trade deals with the US, they could potentially face much higher tariffs.

That is a really big deal.

If tariffs suddenly go far higher on literally thousands upon thousands of imported products, that is going to cause an immense amount of economic pain.

And the war between Israel and Iran could potentially erupt again at any time.  If that were to happen, the Iranians would likely close the Strait of Hormuz, and that would make the oil embargo of 1973 look like a Sunday picnic.

The first half of 2025 has been crazy, but I am even more concerned about the second half of 2025.

I believe that it is going to be filled with all sorts of unpleasant surprises, and that won’t be good for any of us.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

One of the most important Shiite clerics in the entire world, Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi of the Iranian holy city of Qom, has just issued a fatwa which officially declares Donald Trump to be an “enemy of God”.  In Iran, those that are designated to be “enemies of God” under Islamic law are normally executed.  According to an Iranian news source, the reason why Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has issued this fatwa is because Trump threatened Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and other top Iranian leaders…

Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has issued a fatwa in which he declares anyone who threatens Leader, and Shia Marja to be the Enemy of God, who has to be fought against according to Islamic teachings.

To those of us living in the western world, labeling someone as an “enemy of God” may not seem like a very big deal.

But in Shia Islam, it is a technical theological term that has very grave implications.

Do you remember the fatwa that was issued against Salman Rushdie?

After that fatwa was issued, Rushdie had to live in hiding for years, but eventually an attacker caught up with him anyway.

Now President Trump is facing a similar threat.  Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi is calling on “all Muslims around the world” to work together to make “the criminal American president” pay for what he has done…

After threats were made by the criminal American president and the leaders of the child-killing Zionist regime against the Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and the senior Shiite clerics known as Marja, a group of believers submitted a request to His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi regarding the duties of Muslims in response to such threats. Grand Ayatollah Makarem response to the question put forward by his followers is as follows:

“Any person or regime that threatens the Leader or Marja (May God forbid) is considered an enemy of God,” Grand Ayatollah Makarem said in his Fatwa, which is a response to the question to him.

The senior Iranian Shia Marja added that “any cooperation or support for that enemy by Muslims or Islamic states is haram or forbidden. It is necessary for all Muslims around the world to make these enemies regret their words and mistakes.”

He also said that if a Muslim who abides by his Muslim duty suffer hardship or loss in their campaign, they will be rewarded a fighter in the way of God, God willing.”

Now that this fatwa has been formally issued, Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and other high ranking Israeli officials are officially considered to be “Mohareb” from this point forward…

I asked Google AI for more information about the term “Mohareb”, and this is what I was told…

In Iran, Mohareb (or Moharebeh) is a term used to describe someone who wages war against God, the state, or who is an enemy of God. It is typically used in the context of Sharia law to refer to individuals who take up arms against the government. The charge is often associated with the death penalty, particularly when applied to those who allegedly use weapons to threaten public security.

Did you catch that last sentence?

Those that are designated as “Mohareb” in Iran are usually executed.

And there are vast numbers of lunatics inside Iran that would be more than willing to carry out such a sentence.

In fact, on Saturday thousands of Iranians that had poured into the streets for a funeral procession were burning U.S. flags and chanting “death to America”…

Thousands of enraged Iranians burned the US flag and chanted “death to America” and “Israel” Saturday as the Islamic Republic buried the head of its armed forces and other top commanders who were killed during the 12-day war.

The caskets of about 60 corpses, including Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp’s chief Generals Hossein Salami and Amir Ali Hajizadeh, were marched through the streets of downtown Tehran for the first public funerals since President Trump helped broker a June 23 cease-fire between the two Middle Eastern countries.

“Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” the crowds screamed as flags of both countries were set ablaze.

It certainly doesn’t sound like they think this is over.

In fact, many are entirely convinced that it is just a matter of time before Iranian sleeper cells inside the U.S. start taking action.

Could this be one of the reasons why large barricades are being put up around the White House and the U.S. Treasury?…

Overnight, construction crews in Washington, D.C. have been observed erecting large anti-scale barricades around the White House and the U.S. Treasury. This unusual activity has sparked widespread speculation among social media users about potential major announcements or events. The Secret Service has not provided an official reason for these enhanced security measures, leading to a mix of concern and curiosity.

Considering everything that just happened in the Middle East, and considering the fact that July 4th is coming up this week, law enforcement authorities from coast to coast are on a high state of alert…

Since the announcement of the US airstrikes in Iran last Saturday, major states, such as California and New York, have been on high alert for threats.

Earlier this week, Homeland Security announced it had arrested 11 Iranian nationals who were illegally in the country, including an alleged sniper.

The 11 men were arrested across the country, including from California, Colorado, Maryland, New York, and Texas.

Why haven’t we heard more about this?

It is certainly not normal for an “Iranian sniper” to be arrested.

Was he part of a team that was planning something really big?

As I warned last week, we are a nation that is absolutely teeming with soft targets.  We are far more vulnerable than most people realize, and on major holidays such as July 4th there are large gatherings of people all over the country.

During a recent interview with Greg Hunter, Steve Quayle also warned that our enemies could choose to use “asymmetrical warfare” against us…

Everyone should learn the term ‘asymmetrical warfare.’ This is what you see when you are talking terrorism, refineries blowing up and wildfires being started at a much higher pace than ever before.

If a radical Shiite terrorist dies during a terror attack, that is considered to be a good thing.

In fact, many radical Shiite lunatics are quite eager to get to “paradise” because that will mean having endless pleasure with heavenly virgins.

Yes, this is what they actually believe.  Dan Burmawi recently posted about this on Twitter, and I have included his entire post below because it does such a great job of detailing how these terrorists view the afterlife…

A single intercourse with one of the virgins of paradise will last seventy thousand years.

Islam’s obsession with virgins in paradise isn’t just a minor detail, it’s a central, driving force in its theology of rewards.

The Islamic afterlife isn’t about communion with God, spiritual enlightenment, or divine wisdom, it’s a carnal, male-centered fantasy of unlimited sexual gratification.

Islamic texts describe these women as perpetual virgins, untouched, and designed solely for the pleasure of men.

“Indeed, We have produced the women of Paradise in a [new] creation. And made them virgins, devoted [to their husbands] and of equal age.” (Quran 56:35-37)

“Fair ones reserved in pavilions. Untouched before by any man or jinn.” (Quran 55:72-74)

Hadith collections affirm that after every act of intercourse, these “virgins” miraculously return to a state of virginity so the process can be repeated endlessly.

These heavenly beings are not just virgins, they are physically exaggerated to fulfill male fantasies:

Large, round breasts:“Indeed, for the pious there is a triumph… full-breasted companions of equal age.” (Quran 78:31-33)

The Arabic term kawa‘ib in 78:33 literally means “firm, swelling breasts.”

Big, lustrous eyes:“They will have maidens with intensely white skin and large black eyes, as if they were hidden pearls.” (Quran 52:20)

Glowing, hairless, smooth skin:“If one of the women of paradise were to appear to the people of the earth, she would fill the space between heaven and earth with light and fragrance.” (Tirmidhi, 2538)

Muhammad explicitly stated that men in paradise will have endless sexual stamina, never experiencing fatigue.

The virgins, in turn, never get tired, never say no, and are always ready for intercourse.

The Prophet was asked, “O Messenger of Allah, do we have sexual intercourse in Paradise?” He replied: “Yes, by the One in Whose Hand is my soul, a man will have sexual intercourse with a hundred virgins in one morning.” (Ibn Majah, 4337)

Another hadith states that men will be given the strength of 100 men in sexual performance. (Tirmidhi, 2536)

According to Al-Suyuti, a famous Islamic scholar:

“The believer will be given such and such strength in paradise for intercourse… A single intercourse with one of the virgins of paradise will last seventy thousand years.” (Al-Suyuti, Al-Haba’ik fi Akhbar al-Mala’ik)

These “virgins” don’t need to poop, pee, or sweat, they exist for one purpose: eternal male pleasure.

“They will neither urinate, defecate, nor suffer from phlegm or mucus. Their sweat will be musk.” (Muslim, 2834)

“They will be hairless except for their eyebrows and eyelashes.” (Tirmidhi, 2536)

A believer doesn’t get just one virgin, he gets dozens, or even hundreds.

“A martyr will have 72 virgins.” (Tirmidhi, 1663)

“The lowest rank of a person in paradise will have 80,000 servants and 72 wives.” (Ibn Majah, 4337)

While men are promised an endless supply of sex slaves, the fate of women in Islam’s paradise is nonexistent or humiliating.

Women in Islamic eschatology exist only for men’s pleasure, nothing else.

While other religions speak of enlightenment, unity with God, or transcendent joy, Islam offers a pornographic fantasy land where men indulge in endless sex, alcohol, and servitude.

What kind of God rewards faithfulness with an eternal orgy?

What kind of religion reduces the afterlife to a hypersexualized playground?

This is not spiritual. This is not divine. This is the theology of a man who designed an afterlife to justify his own sexual obsessions.

And yet, Muslims claim Islam is the most moral and pure religion.

Islam’s paradise is nothing more than a cosmic brothel.

How can you reason with people that actually believe this stuff?

You can’t.

Personally, I am entirely convinced that Islamic terrorists will commit some absolutely horrifying acts of violence on U.S. soil.

But if they do release bioweapons or set off a dirty bomb, we may not ever know who did it.

They may simply unleash death and destruction without taking any responsibility at all.

We have made a very dangerous enemy, and they will remember the events of this month for a very, very long time.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

While everyone has been preoccupied with the war in the Middle East and the anti-ICE protests going on around the nation, economic conditions in the U.S. have continued to deteriorate.  The housing market is in abysmal shape, consumer spending is down and layoffs are way up.   Meanwhile, fear of our seemingly endless cost of living crisis is preventing the Federal Reserve from cutting interest rates, and we shouldn’t expect any additional “economic stimulus” from our politicians in Washington any time soon because the federal government is already facing an unprecedented debt crisis.  In other words, our economy is a giant mess and the cavalry isn’t going to come riding along to save us.

If you find yourself deeply struggling in this difficult economic environment, you are definitely not alone.  The following are 11 signs that the entire country is facing enormous economic challenges right now…

#1 Sales of new homes in the United States absolutely tanked last month…

Sales of new single-family homes dropped 13.7% in May compared with April to 623,000 units on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis, according to the U.S. Census.

That sales total was 6.3% lower than May 2024 and well below both the six-month average of 671,000 and the one-year average of 676,000. It also lags the pre-pandemic average in 2019 of 685,000 units sold.

Wall Street analysts were expecting May new home sales of 695,000, according to estimates from Dow Jones.

#2 According to the latest numbers that we have been given, home prices in the U.S. have fallen for two months in a row…

After US home pries declined in March (the latest data) for the first time in over two years, this morning’s Case-Shiller Home Price Index data was expected to show another drop in the cost of buying a home.

And the consensus was right but way off in magnitude as prices in April tumbled 0.31% MoM (-0.02% exp) – the biggest MoM drop since Dec 2022…

#3 Last month, existing home sales in the U.S. were the worst that we have seen during the month of May since 2009.

#4 Retail sales fell even more than expected last month…

Consumer spending pulled back sharply in May, weighed down by declining gas sales and looming unease over where the economy is headed, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday.

Retail sales declined 0.9%, even more than the 0.6% drop expected from the Dow Jones consensus, according to numbers adjusted for seasonality but not inflation. The decline followed a 0.1% loss in April and came at a time of unease over tariffs and geopolitical tensions.

#5 The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is warning that the labor market “deteriorated noticeably” during the first quarter of this year…

Economic research from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York indicated the labor market “deteriorated noticeably” in the first quarter of 2025, with those just entering the workforce taking the hardest hits.

The Labor Department reported that employers added 139,000 jobs in May while unemployment held steady at 4.2%. The unemployment rate for all college grads was 2.7%, but the rate for those between the ages of 22 and 27 years old jumped to 5.8%, according to the New York Federal Reserve. That’s the highest reading since 2021.

#6 According to Challenger, Gray & Christmas, U.S. employers announced 47 percent more job cuts in May 2025 than they did in May 2024…

Layoffs of U.S. workers were nearly 50% higher in May than they were a year ago, with reductions attributed to the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) remaining the leading reason for job cuts this year, according to a new report.

Global outplacement Challenger, Gray & Christmas on Thursday released a report that said there were 93,816 job cuts announced by U.S. employers in May. That amounts to an increase of 47% from 63,816 announced last May, while last month’s figure was down 12% from 105,441 cuts in April.

#7 For the first five months of this year, U.S. employers announced 80 percent more job cuts than they did during the first five months of last year…

That brings the total number of job cuts announced this year to 696,309 — an increase of 80% from the 385,859 jobs cut in the first five months of 2024. This year’s total is just 65,049 job cuts away from matching the 2024 annual total.

“Tariffs, funding cuts, consumer spending, and overall economic pessimism are putting intense pressure on companies’ workforces. Companies are spending less, slowing hiring, and sending layoff notices,” said Andrew Challenger, senior vice president of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.

#8 Factories in California are permanently shutting down at a staggering pace…

All within a week, California lost Amy’s Kitchen’s San Jose plant (331 jobs), Anheuser-Busch’s Oakland warehouse complex (142 jobs), and several smaller plants, all for unsustainable prices and operational disruption.

Amy’s Kitchen, for example, was losing $1 million monthly, consumed by inflation, labor shortages, and supply chain problems. Anheuser-Busch’s exodus, conversely, left workers in suspense as the plant changed hands without a guarantee of employment.

It is not bad luck, evidence of a business environment where even legendary companies can’t survive the relentless fiscal squeeze.

#9 More than 3 percent of Paramount’s entire workforce will be hitting the bricks…

Paramount Global is trimming its U.S. workforce by 3.5% in a move to cut costs.

The company’s plans to cut jobs were announced Tuesday by its three co-CEOs in a company-wide memo viewed by FOX Business.

Co-CEOs George Cheeks, Chris McCarthy and Brian Robbins said in the message that Paramount was “taking the hard, but necessary steps to further streamline our organization this week.”

#10 Microsoft is cutting jobs in its gaming division for the fourth time in 18 months…

Microsoft is planning another round of cuts at Xbox as part of the tech giant’s ongoing reorganization.

Xbox managers are expecting substantial job cuts across the entire group as soon as next week, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. This marks the fourth time Microsoft downsized its gaming division in the past 18 months, the outlet reported. Several video game studios at the company’s Xbox division were shuttered in 2024, too.

#11 At this point, things are so bad that even Google is reducing headcount…

Google on Tuesday offered buyouts to employees across several of its divisions, including those within its knowledge and information and central engineering units as well as marketing, research and communications teams, CNBC has learned.

Knowledge and information, or K&I, is the unit that houses Google’s search, ads and commerce divisions. The buyouts Tuesday are the company’s latest effort to reduce headcount, which Google has continued to do in waves since laying off 12,000 employees in 2023.

CNBC could not confirm how many employees were impacted by the latest round of buyouts. The Information reported earlier that the company offered buyouts to employees in the search and ads unit.

Our ongoing economic decline is just one element of the “perfect storm” that we are now experiencing.

Everywhere around us, chaos is erupting.

Unfortunately, I believe that conditions will become even more chaotic in the months ahead.

If you currently have a job that you value, I would hold on to it as tightly as you can.

We all remember what happened in 2008 and 2009, and now it appears that another very serious downturn has arrived.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Nobody seems to know what happened to Iran’s enormous stockpile of enriched uranium.  Until we learn the fate of that uranium, I think that it is premature for anyone to be declaring victory.  Of course now that the ceasefire appears to be holding, everyone is declaring victory.  Israel is declaring victory, Iran is declaring victory, and President Trump is declaring victory.  But what is the truth?

The fate of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium is of utmost importance.  If that stockpile remains intact, it will be a major victory for the Iranians.  But if it has been destroyed, it will be a major victory for the United States and Israel.

Unfortunately, the truth is that what happened to that stockpile is currently unclear…

Still unknown is what will happen to Iran’s enriched uranium, the key ingredient for making a nuclear bomb that Iran says it removed from its nuclear sites before the United States attacked.

“Significant nuclear materials remain unaccounted for,” said Kelsey Davenport, the Arms Control Association’s director for nonproliferation policy.

Vice-President J.D. Vance has publicly stated that he thinks that Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was buried by the U.S. airstrikes, and he is dismissing concerns that the stockpile could have been moved prior to those airstrikes…

“The goal was to bury the uranium, and I do think the uranium is buried,” Vance said. Of the US, he said the goal of the bombing “was to eliminate the enrichment and eliminate their ability to convert that enriched fuel into a nuclear weapon. We don’t want that 60%-enriched uranium to become 90% enriched uranium. That’s the real concern”.

But Vance insisted it was not a concern that Iran could have moved it and claimed the bombing represented “mission success” because he said Iran no longer had the capacity to turn the stockpile into weapons-grade uranium. “And that was really the goal here,” he said.

But there are some experts that believe that Iran was able to move at least some of the enriched uranium before the airstrikes took place.

Former UN nuclear weapons inspector David Albright is one of those experts…

The former UN nuclear weapons inspector David Albright told CNN on Monday there are centrifuges that are “unaccounted for” that must still be dealt with to consider the US mission successful.

“I think that part of the mission has been accomplished,” he said. “Stocks of enriched uranium are one of them. I wish those stocks were buried, but our understanding is that some of them were taken away by Iran, and we don’t know where they are.”

Albright added that the question of the remaining, unaccounted-for centrifuges meant that “this problem isn’t over yet, but it is a manageable problem. Partly because turning that enriched uranium into weapons-grade uranium is not going to be a slow – a fast process”.

And there appears to be evidence that backs up the claim that the Iranians were moving enriched uranium.

A series of satellite images shows 16 trucks lined up outside the underground facility at Fordow just days before that facility was bombed…

There are reports Iran may have moved the stockpile, as well as some equipment, days before the attack to a secret location, a claim repeated by Israeli officials to The New York Times.

Satellite images from before the US’ strike showed a line of 16 trucks outside the Fordow nuclear plant, which is built inside a mountain and is considered impervious to most missile attacks, prompting Israel to ask the US to deploy its B-2 ‘Spirit’ bombers and the GBU-37 ‘bunker busters’ bombs early Sunday.

Of course the enriched uranium is just one part of the equation.

We also need to know if Iran’s underground centrifuges were destroyed by the U.S. airstrikes.

The Trump administration is claiming that they were, but an intelligence assessment that was leaked to CNN claims that they were not…

The US military strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities last weekend did not destroy the core components of the country’s nuclear program and likely only set it back by months, according to an early US intelligence assessment that was described by four people briefed on it.

The assessment, which has not been previously reported, was produced by the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Pentagon’s intelligence arm. It is based on a battle damage assessment conducted by US Central Command in the aftermath of the US strikes, one of the sources said.

Why is there such disagreement between the intelligence assessment and what we are being told publicly?

According to this assessment, Iran’s nuclear program has been set back “maybe a few months”…

Two of the people familiar with the assessment said Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium was not destroyed. One of the people said the centrifuges are largely “intact.”

“So the (DIA) assessment is that the US set them back maybe a few months, tops,” this person added.

The White House acknowledged the existence of the assessment but said they disagreed with it.

On top of everything else, we are also being told that Iran’s “secret nuclear facilities” were not hit by any airstrikes and “remain operational”…

US officials believe Iran also maintains secret nuclear facilities that were not targeted in the strike and remain operational, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

If this assessment is anywhere even close to accurate, we have a major problem on our hands.

The lunatics that run Iran have now been given all the motivation that they need to produce nuclear weapons.

After everything that has just happened, they know that they will not be able to defeat the U.S. and Israel using conventional weapons.

So it would be a shock if they didn’t rush to build nukes.

The entire purpose of negotiations was to get Iran to give up their nuclear program.

Well, that is definitely not going to happen now.

Alarmingly, a top Iranian official has already declared that Iran’s nuclear program is not going to be stopped…

On Tuesday the head of Iran’s nuclear energy program vowed that the country will continue its nuclear program uninterrupted, despite the Trump-ordered weekend heavy bombings of three key nuclear and uranium enrichment sites.

AEOI (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran) head Mohammad Eslami said on state television that “plans for restarting [the facilities] have been prepared in advance” and that measures ensuring continued production are in place.

“Despite the evil conspiracies of its enemies,” the AEOI said in the statement, “this organization will not allow the path of development of this national industry to be stopped.”

On the other side, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is pledging that Iran will be attacked again if they attempt to fully restore their nuclear program…

“If someone, if someone in Iran tries to restore that program, we will act with the same determination, the same power, to cut off any such attempt,” says Netanyahu.

“I repeat – Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.”

It appears that this story is far from over.

And that is not a good thing for any of us.

The negotiations with Iran were supposed to result in some sort of a resolution.

They didn’t.

This war was supposed to result in some sort of a resolution.

That didn’t happen either.

So what comes next?

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Can anyone explain to me what just happened?  The last 24 hours have been beyond weird.  Just hours ago, everyone was freaking out because Iran had just fired a bunch of missiles at a major U.S. military base in Qatar.  But then we found out that most of the missiles were intercepted, not a single person was hurt, and very little damage was done.  On top of everything else, President Trump announced that the Iranians had informed the U.S. that the missiles were coming in advance…

Iran has officially responded to our Obliteration of their Nuclear Facilities with a very weak response, which we expected, and have very effectively countered. There have been 14 missiles fired — 13 were knocked down, and 1 was “set free,” because it was headed in a nonthreatening direction. I am pleased to report that NO Americans were harmed, and hardly any damage was done. Most importantly, they’ve gotten it all out of their “system,” and there will, hopefully, be no further HATE. I want to thank Iran for giving us early notice, which made it possible for no lives to be lost, and nobody to be injured. Perhaps Iran can now proceed to Peace and Harmony in the Region, and I will enthusiastically encourage Israel to do the same. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

The entire thing was staged!

What a joke.

What is the purpose of conducting such a charade?

Nobody was fooled.

The good news, as Scott Jennings has aptly pointed out, is that this essentially represents a “complete and total capitulation” by Iran…

The Iranians wanted to “save face” by firing off some missiles, but they also apparently wanted an exit ramp.

Thankfully, President Trump was quite eager to offer them one.

Very soon after the Iranian missile attack failed, negotiations for a ceasefire were initiated…

• After the attack Iran sent a message to the White House through Qatar that it will not conduct any further attacks, a source with direct knowledge told Axios.
• The White House sent a message back via the Qataris stressing that it will not retaliate to the Iranian attack and that the U.S. is ready to resume negotiations with Iran.
• Afterward, talks continued between the U.S. and Israel and between Qatar and Iran to agree on the terms of the ceasefire and the time it would begin.
• During the mediation efforts on Monday, Trump spoke to both Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and the Emir of Qatar Tamim al-Thani. Vice President Vance spoke to Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Bin Abdul Rahman al-Thani.

Everything went smoothly, and shortly thereafter President Trump announced that an agreement for a ceasefire had been reached…

CONGRATULATIONS TO EVERYONE! It has been fully agreed by and between Israel and Iran that there will be a Complete and Total CEASEFIRE (in approximately 6 hours from now, when Israel and Iran have wound down and completed their in progress, final missions!), for 12 hours, at which point the War will be considered, ENDED! Officially, Iran will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 12th Hour, Israel will start the CEASEFIRE and, upon the 24th Hour, an Official END to THE 12 DAY WAR will be saluted by the World. During each CEASEFIRE, the other side will remain PEACEFUL and RESPECTFUL. On the assumption that everything works as it should, which it will, I would like to congratulate both Countries, Israel and Iran, on having the Stamina, Courage, and Intelligence to end, what should be called, “THE 12 DAY WAR.” This is a War that could have gone on for years, and destroyed the entire Middle East, but it didn’t, and never will! God bless Israel, God bless Iran, God bless the Middle East, God bless the United States of America, and GOD BLESS THE WORLD!

When I first saw that, I could hardly believe my eyes.

Could it be true?

Almost immediately, a CNN report contradicted what Trump had announced…

Just an hour before President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Iran, CNN reported citing a senior Iranian official that the country had not seen any ceasefire proposal, and reportedly saw no reason for one.

The official went on to say that Iran would continue to fight until it achieves a “lasting peace” and adding that it would view remarks from Israel and the US as “a deception” intended to justify attacks on Iran’s interests.

“At this very moment, the enemy is committing aggression against Iran, and Iran is on the verge of intensifying its retaliatory strikes, with no ear to listen to the lies of its enemies,” the official told CNN.

But then Reuters did confirm that the Iranians had agreed to a ceasefire…

While an Iranian official confirmed that Tehran had agreed to a ceasefire, there was no immediate comment yet from Israel.

A senior White House official said Israel had agreed so long as Iran does not launch further attacks and that Trump brokered the deal in a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

If this ceasefire holds, that will be a wonderful thing for the entire world.

President Trump is convinced that it is “going to go forever”…

Separately, Trump tells NBC News that he expects the Israel-Iran ceasefire to last “forever.”

“I think the ceasefire is unlimited. It’s going to go forever,” he says.

Hopefully he is right.

But there were explosions in Tehran just a little while ago.

So we shall see what happens.

If the war does end now, there are still so many unanswered questions.

Was Iran’s nuclear program completely destroyed?

In particular, to what extent was the underground facility at Fordo destroyed?

And will the Iranians now rush to rebuild their nuclear program?

If they don’t rebuild their nuclear program, they could ask the North Koreans to provide them with nuclear warheads instead.

Dmitry Medvedev has posted a new message in which he warns that such a scenario could happen…

“Regarding President Trump’s concerns: I condemn the US strike on Iran—it failed to achieve its objectives,” Medvedev, a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter, on Monday.

“However, Russia has no intention of supplying nuclear weapons to Iran because, unlike Israel, we are parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. I know quite well what this would entail, having overseen our nuclear forces as president.”

“But other countries might—and that’s what was said. And we definitely shouldn’t be arguing over who has more nukes. All the more so because the New START treaty, which I once signed with a US president, is still in force—for now,” he said.

As long as the current regime in Iran remains in power, the threat is still there.

And the Iranians will not forget what has happened because they have a very long memory.

So let’s rejoice if this ceasefire works, but let us also remember that we are in a season of “wars and rumors of wars” when things can change dramatically at any moment.

Yes, Iran has been wounded severely.

But I don’t think this is the last that we will hear from the Iranians.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Our way of life depends on cheap energy.  If you remove cheap energy from the equation, our society will be thrown into a state of chaos.  The Iranians know that closing the Strait of Hormuz is one of the most powerful forms of leverage that they possess, because the world is deeply dependent on the oil that travels through that waterway.  We don’t know exactly how this crisis will play out, because the Strait of Hormuz has never been closed in modern times.  But as I pointed out earlier this month, we were warned that Israel would attack Iran, the global price of oil would rise, and the increase in the price of oil would be blamed on Israel.  And that is precisely what has happened.  Israel has attacked Iran, the global price of oil has been increasing, and many are blaming Israel for what has transpired.  Unfortunately, the truth is that this crisis is just getting started.

On Sunday, it was being reported that the Iranian Parliament “has approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz”…

The Iranian Parliament has approved a measure to close the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global oil choke point, after the United States bombed three nuclear sites in Iran, according to Iranian state media on Sunday.

While the Parliament has voted in favor of closing the strait, the final decision rests with the country’s Supreme National Security Council, according to state media.

Of course the Iranian Parliament never would have held this vote if the Supreme National Security Council had not already decided what it was going to do.

At a time when the regime is under threat, there is no way that we are going to be shown any signs of disunity among Iranian leaders.

So what does this mean?

It means that the price of oil is going to go higher.

A lot higher.

JPMorgan is projecting that we could see the price of oil hit $130 a barrel in a “worst-case scenario”…

Investors predict a “knee-jerk” reaction, with oil prices expected to spike due to fears of disrupted Middle East supplies. Brent crude, already up 20% over the past month to $79.04, could climb toward $130 per barrel in a worst-case scenario, according to JPMorgan.

I agree that we could see the price of oil soon hit $130 a barrel.

But if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed for an extended period of time, it will go a lot higher than that.

In a previous article, I warned that if the price of oil rises above $100 a barrel and stays there, it will immediately push the global economy into a recession.

And I also warned that if the price of oil rises above $200 a barrel and stays there, it will immediately push the global economy into a depression.

Yes, we really are facing a worldwide economic depression if this crisis is not resolved.

Because of how narrow it is, the Iranians can shut down the Strait of Hormuz quite easily…

The strait connecting the Gulf of Oman with the Persian Gulf is one of the world’s most critical chokepoints — just 20 miles wide at its narrowest point.

Shipping lanes in the strait — the area that is deep enough for ships to pass — are even narrower at less than two miles wide in each direction, making them much more vulnerable to attacks and threats of closure.

The Iranians have been planning for such a scenario for many years, and they definitely have the resources to pull it off.

The reason why the Strait of Hormuz is so important is because approximately 20 percent of all global oil production travels through it…

About 20% of global oil and gas flow through the strait, which lies between Oman and Iran, and its closure could mean rising fuel prices for American consumers.

How will the world economy function when most oil exports from the Middle East are suddenly cut off?

That is a very good question.

It is being projected that economies in Asia will be hit the hardest…

The bulk of all oil exported by the regional petro giants, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, all travel through this narrow waterway.

Asia is likely to bear the brunt most from any closures to the waterway, with China, India, Japan and South Korea all getting most of their oil imports through the strait.

Thankfully, the U.S. has become a lot less dependent on foreign oil in recent years.

At this point we purchase “less than 3 percent of the oil coming out of the Persian Gulf”…

By contrast, the United States buys less than 3 percent of the oil coming out of the Persian Gulf, notably from northern Saudi Arabia. The United States became an overall net exporter of oil in 2020 as fracking technologies enabled a big increase in domestic oil production.

But ultimately everyone will be affected because oil is a global commodity.

It will be fascinating to see how this crisis plays out.  Even before the Iranian Parliament voted, one oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz suddenly reversed course once news broke that the U.S. had bombed Iran…

I don’t know if I even have the words to describe how serious this crisis could become.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is urging China to convince Iran to keep the Strait of Hormuz open…

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday called for China to prevent Iran from closing the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important trade routes for crude oil in the world.

“I encourage the Chinese government in Beijing to call them about that, because they heavily depend on the Straits of Hormuz for their oil,” Rubio said in an interview on Fox News. China is Iran’s most important oil customer and maintains friendly relations with the Islamic Republic.

And he is also warning that the U.S. military could get involved if the Iranians really do shut it down…

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a “suicide mission,” adding it would be a massive escalation that would merit a response from the US and others.

He said: “If they do that, it will be another terrible mistake. It’s economic suicide for them if they do it.

“And we retain options to deal with that, but other countries should be looking at that as well. It would hurt other countries’ economies a lot worse than ours.”

Of course it would not be easy for the U.S. or any other major power to conduct an operation to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Any ships that enter the Strait of Hormuz would be sitting ducks for the Iranian missile launchers that have been dug deep into the cliffs that overlook the waterway.

Let me add another layer to all of this.

A tremendous amount of fertilizer also travels through the Strait of Hormuz, and that has very serious implications.  The following comes from a Zero Hedge article entitled “Global Fertilizer Market Thrown In Chaos After Mideast War Shutters Iran Urea Production”…

“Iran was the third-largest urea exporter in 2024, according to StoneX, with export volumes of around 4.5 million tons – about the size of China’s. The country has a production capacity of around 8.9 million tons a year, Milam added, serving markets in Turkey, Brazil and Argentina, among others. It is also an exporter of ammonia.”

“In addition to knocking Iranian urea production offline, the attacks also brought Egypt’s operations to a standstill,” Ward reported. “Israel reduced its natural gas flows to the country on Friday, prompting Egypt to cease production.”

AgWeb’s Margy Eckelkamp reported that “Linville’s colleague at StoneX, Arlan Suderman, details why this conflict is being watched so carefully if the concern isn’t in those two countries’ production. ‘There’s a lot of other producers of fertilizer in the Middle East and a lot of it also passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which will be at risk going forward now,’ Suderman says. From a global supply standpoint, Suderman also points out the Ukrainian attack of one of Russia’s largest nitrogen fertilizer plants two weeks ago.”

Global fertilizer production was already being squeezed in a number of different ways even before Iran was attacked.

If fertilizer exports are not allowed to travel through the Strait of Hormuz, that could trigger famines in many areas of the planet.

Needless to say, famine is another one of the major themes that we have been anticipating.

We really are living in unprecedented times.

Now that missiles are flying and bombs are being dropped, there will be no going back to the way that things were.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

War with Iran is the biggest news story of 2025 so far, and it is also one of the biggest events of this entire period in human history.  Decisions that global leaders will be making in the weeks and months to come will have very serious implications for all of us.  Right now, we are waiting to see if President Trump will give the green light for U.S. air strikes in Iran.  Earlier today, we were informed that Trump will make this decision “within the next two weeks”…

President Donald Trump said there was a “substantial chance” of U.S. negotiations with Iran and that he would decide within two weeks whether diplomacy keeps America out of the ongoing Israel-Iran conflict.

The statement took down the temperature as the world waited for news of whether he would commit U.S. forces to Israel’s campaign against Tehran’s nuclear program.

“Based on the fact that there’s a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,” press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, quoting Trump.

That doesn’t mean that President Trump will make his decision two weeks from now.

“Within the next two weeks” means that a decision could come at any point within that time frame.

According to one anonymous U.S. official, Trump “wants to keep his options open until the very last moment”…

Trump remained hesitant to commit, wary of a prolonged foreign conflict he has long vowed to avoid, on Thursday. “There are a lot of things in motion,” a US official said, “but the President wants to keep his options open until the very last moment.” Trump’s top priority, according to insiders, is to avoid a drawn-out military entanglement.

While he is open to arguments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that only American power can cripple Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the president has so far resisted calls for immediate intervention.

Trump seemed to personally confirm this when he told reporters in the Oval Office that he prefers “to make the final decision one second before it’s due”…

Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump confirmed: “I like to make the final decision one second before it’s due. Especially with war, things change with war. It can go from one extreme to the other.”

I think that Trump would prefer to make a deal with Iran if that is still possible.

But the Iranians have given no indication that they are willing to give in to Trump’s demands.

Ultimately, Trump is still determined to bring Iran’s nuclear program to an end one way or another.

Either the Iranians will agree to destroy it, or the U.S. and Israel will destroy it.

In order for the U.S. and Israel to destroy it, the underground nuclear facility at Fordow will have to be taken out, and that will not be easy…

President Trump has been briefed on both the risks and the benefits of bombing Fordo, Iran’s most secure nuclear site, and his mindset is that disabling it is necessary because of the risk of weapons being produced in a relatively short period of time, multiple sources told CBS News.

“He believes there’s not much choice,” one source said. “Finishing the job means destroying Fordo.”

Israel cannot destroy Fordow by air, because it has no way to deliver 30,000 pound bunker-buster bombs.

That is why we would have to drop those bombs.

But even some U.S. officials have doubts that those bombs would be enough to destroy the facility at Fordow…

Donald Trump has suggested to defense officials it would make sense for the US to launch strikes against Iran only if the so-called “bunker buster” bomb was guaranteed to destroy the critical uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, according to people familiar with the deliberations.

Trump was told that dropping the GBU-57s, a 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bomb would effectively eliminate Fordow but he does not appear to be fully convinced, the people said, and has held off authorizing strikes as he also awaits the possibility that the threat of US involvement would lead Iran to talks.

The effectiveness of GBU-57s has been a topic of deep contention at the Pentagon since the start of Trump’s term, according to two defense officials who were briefed that perhaps only a tactical nuclear weapon could be capable of destroying Fordow because of how deeply it is located.

President Trump doesn’t want to launch a mission that is going to fail.

If those giant bombs don’t work, he will look quite foolish, and he very much wants to avoid that.

But Fordow is the key to this entire conflict.

If Fordow is still operating when this is all over, it will be a major victory for Iran.

The Israelis are absolutely determined to keep that from happening.

If President Trump decides not to give the green light for air strikes on Iran, the Israelis have already indicated that they will send commandos in to take Fordow out…

• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Ambassador to Washington Yechiel Leiter hinted in recent interviews that the Israel Defense Forces have options beyond just airstrikes.
• One could be a risky commando raid. Israeli special forces conducted such an operation last September, albeit on a smaller scale, when they destroyed an underground missile factory in Syria by planting and detonating explosives.
• Now that Israel has full control of Iran’s air space and has dealt a heavy blow to Iran’s military, that option appears less extreme than it otherwise would.
• A U.S. official said the Israelis told the Trump administration that while they may not be able to reach deep enough into the mountain with bombs, they may “do it with humans.”

It would be an extremely risky operation.

But the IDF demonstrated that they could pull off such an operation when they took out the underground missile factory in Syria last September…

Shoshani added that the nighttime raid was ‘one of the more complex operations the IDF has done in recent years’. Accompanied by airstrikes, it involved dozens of aircraft and around 100 helicopter-borne troops, he said.

‘At the end of the raid, the troops dismantled the facility, including the machines and the manufacturing equipment, themselves,’ he claimed.

Of course destroying Fordow would be much more difficult.

And there are so many ways that an operation of such complexity could go horribly wrong.

But if Trump doesn’t decide to use bunker-buster bombs, this may be the only way that Israeli leaders can achieve their goals.

We shall see what happens.

Meanwhile, missiles continue to fly back and forth between Israel and Iran.

Just hours ago, an Iranian missile hit one of Israel’s most important hospitals…

Black smoke was still billowing from the middle of the Soroka Medical Center when we arrived, several hours after Iran’s attack on the building.

Pieces of twisted metal shrapnel – some of it apparently from the missile itself – scattered across a 200m (656ft) area in and around the hospital complex.

Vehicles carrying medical staff lined the road outside – an emergency response to a situation that many had feared would be worse.

Needless to say, Israeli leaders are extremely angry, and they are vowing to get revenge…

Iran said the primary target of the attack that hit the Soroka Hospital was an Israeli military intelligence site, not the health facility, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack and vowed a response, saying: “We will exact the full price from the tyrants in Tehran.”

Israel Katz, the country’s Minister of Defense, accused Iran of “war crimes of the most serious kind” and said Ayatollah Khamenei “will be held accountable for his crimes.”

The IDF continues to hammer high value targets inside Iran as well.  Last night dozens of targets were hit, and this included a strike on Iran’s Arak heavy water reactor.  The following is an excerpt from an official statement by the IDF…

Overnight (Thursday), 40 IAF fighter jets, with the precise intelligence direction of the IDF Intelligence Directorate, struck dozens of military targets in Tehran and additional areas throughout Iran, using over 100 munitions.

As part of the strikes, and as part of the broad effort to prevent the Iranian regime from obtaining a nuclear weapon, the nuclear reactor in the area of Arak in Iran was targeted, including the structure of the reactor’s core seal, which is a key component in plutonium production.

Construction of the reactor began in 1997 but was not completed due to international community intervention.

The reactor was originally intended for the production of weapons-grade plutonium, capable of enabling the development of nuclear weapons. In light of various agreements, in recent years the Iranian regime advanced its conversion to produce low-grade plutonium, which is not suitable for the production of nuclear weapons. However, the regime deliberately ordered not to complete the conversion that would have prevented its use for nuclear weapons — in order to exert pressure on the West.

The strike targeted the component intended for plutonium production, in order to prevent the reactor from being restored and used for nuclear weapons development.

We are seeing so much death and destruction on both sides.

And unless Iran surrenders and gives up all nuclear enrichment, it will continue for the foreseeable future.

Ominously, a third U.S. aircraft carrier is now being moved into the region…

The USS Gerald R. Ford, the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, will set sail for the Mediterranean as the Israel-Iran conflict continues to escalate.

The ship is expected to sail to Europe possibly next week, making it the third US aircraft carrier group in the region, the New York Post reported. The voyage is part of a regularly scheduled deployment.

The ship will join the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Nimitz in the region.

In April, I warned my readers about this exact scenario.

Now it is playing out right in front of our eyes.

This conflict is a “spark” that is going to change so much in our world.

We enjoyed so many years of peace and stability in the post-World War II era, but now those times are gone.

The dogs of war have been unleashed, and the days ahead are going to be absolutely insane.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.

Events are moving so rapidly in the Middle East now that it is almost impossible to keep up with it all.  We are literally watching history in the making, and our world is going to be a much different place once this is all over.  There are some allies of President Trump that are absolutely thrilled with what is happening, and there are other allies of President Trump that are absolutely horrified.  But nobody should be surprised by what is happening, because we knew that this was coming.  We have been on the verge of a final showdown with Iran for years, and now that final showdown has officially arrived.

There are some that are still hoping that there will be a “ceasefire” or some sort of a “peace agreement” that will stop the fighting.

But three messages that President Trump just posted on his Truth Social account make it abundantly clear that the fate of Iran’s nuclear program will be decided now.

The first message that he posted instantly made headlines all over the globe…

Wow.

When he used the word “we”, what exactly did Trump mean?

That is what everyone wants to know.

At this moment, Israel certainly has control over the skies in Iran.

By using “we”, Trump made it sound like he has already decided that the U.S. will soon be participating in offensive operations against Iran.

He also used the word “we” at the beginning of the second message that he posted…

At least for now?

This is literally a threat to kill Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Threatening to kill the leader of another nation is a very serious thing.

As I discussed in a previous article, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a direct descendant of Muhammad.

There are somewhere around 200 million Shia Muslims in the world, and they would go nuts if bunker buster bombs were used to destroy the bunker that Khamenei is hiding in.

Of course Khamenei is no Boy Scout.  He has been responsible for all sorts of atrocities all over the planet.

But Trump is essentially threatening to bring the entire Islamic regime in Iran to an end, and that is a very dangerous thing to do.

Because a cornered predator is the most dangerous kind of predator.

In his third message, Trump used just two words.

He is demanding “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” from Iran…

That floored me.

The last time an opponent refused a demand from the United States to unconditionally surrender, two really big bombs got dropped.

I don’t see the regime in Iran ever agreeing to this.

In fact, I think that they would rather fight to the death.

But there is no turning back now.

When reporters aboard Air Force One asked Trump what he wants, Trump told them that he wants “an end” to Iran’s nuclear program…

‘An end. A real end. Not a cease fire. An end,’ he said.

‘I’m not looking at ceasefire. We’re looking at better than ceasefire,’ Trump told reporters on Air Force One.

He was blunt in his assessment on Iran’s nuclear program.

‘Remember, Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. It’s very simple. Not to go too deep into it, but they just can’t have a nuclear weapon.

One way or another, we are headed for some sort of a resolution.

According to Axios, U.S. officials are saying that President Trump “is seriously considering joining the war”…

The U.S. officials said Trump is seriously considering joining the war and launching a U.S. strike against Iran’s nuclear facilities, especially its underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordow.

Israel needs our help to destroy the underground facilities at Fordow and Trump knows this.

There was a meeting of the National Security Council today, and it was being reported that strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities were “on the table” during that meeting…

U.S. strikes against targets inside of Iran, including nuclear facilities, are “on the table” during a meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) currently taking place in the White House Situation Room, according to officials who spoke with Fox News.

Of course the U.S. military has already been making preparations for such an option.

Newsweek is telling us that more fighter jets are being deployed to the Middle East right now…

The U.S. military is increasing its air power in the Middle East by deploying additional fighter jets and extending current warplane missions as the conflict between Israel and Iran intensifies, three U.S. officials told Reuters.

One official confirmed the move includes the deployment of advanced aircraft such as F-16s, F-22s and F-35s, aimed at reinforcing American military presence and deterrence in the volatile region.

Interestingly, it appears that many of the refueling tankers that are headed to the Middle East from bases in Europe are towing fighter aircraft behind them…

Close to 20 U.S. Air Force KC-135 and KC-46 Aerial-Refueling Tankers lifted-off this morning from airbases across Europe, heading in the direction of the Middle East, with most of the tankers appearing to be towing fighter aircraft, likely including F-15s, F-16s, F-22s, and F-35s, all moving now towards U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

On top of everything else, four B-52 bombers that could be used to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities are currently sitting on a runway at Diego Garcia…

Meanwhile, it emerged that four U.S. B-52 Stratofortress bombers are currently stationed at the Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, within striking distance of Iran.

The B-52s, which can carry nuclear weapons or other precision-guided bombs, were spotted on a runway at Diego Garcia on Monday.

If the Iranians intend to give Trump what he wants, they should do so now.

Otherwise, they will soon learn a firsthand lesson in what “shock and awe” really means.

Personally, I think that the Iranians will go down fighting, because surrendering to the U.S. and Israel would go against everything that they believe.

And the Iranians may still have some “surprises” up their sleeves.

There has been some concern that Iran may choose to use unconventional weapons at some point, and I was quite alarmed to hear that a “nuke sniffer” had been deployed over the continental United States…

In a rare and highly symbolic move, a U.S. WC-135R “Constant Phoenix” aircraft – known as a nuclear detection or “sniffer” plane, took off tonight from Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, the headquarters of U.S. Strategic Command.

The aircraft is currently flying unusual patterns across several northern U.S. states, triggering speculation among military analysts and open-source intelligence trackers.

This specialized plane, one of only three in existence, is designed to detect airborne radioactive particles and potential nuclear fallout in real time. Its deployment typically signals serious nuclear concerns.

Hopefully there is no reason for alarm.

The Iranians could also escalate matters by trying to draw other Islamic nations into the conflict.

Ominously, 22 Islamic nations have already issued a joint statement in which they strongly condemned Israel’s military operation…

The Muslim majority countries expressed “categorical rejection and condemnation of Israel’s recent attacks on the Islamic Republic of Iran since the 13th of June 2025,” adding concerns about the “unprecedented escalation of tensions in the Middle East, particularly owing to the ongoing military aggression of Israel against the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

A statement published by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry included the Gulf countries of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman and Bahrain, as well some African countries, Turkey, Indonesia and others. The conflict has disrupted air traffic over some of those countries, many of which are also U.S. allies.

A lot of people out there seem to think that this crisis will come to a quick end.

Personally, I have a feeling that this is a story that is going to take some time to fully play out.

But without a doubt, we are headed for some sort of a resolution.

The final showdown with Iran is here, and it appears that things are about to get really messy.

Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.

About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.  He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”.  When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing.  You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter.  Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites.  These are such troubled times, and people need hope.  John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.