Iran accelerează eforturile de recuperare a rachetelor și munițiilor

WASHINGTON — Iran is taking advantage of the ceasefire with the U.S. to dig out its weapons, according to a U.S. official and two other people familiar with the matter. The regime has stepped up its efforts to excavate missiles and other munitions it hid underground or that were buried beneath rubble from U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, they said.The U.S. believes the regime wants to quickly reconstitute its drone and missile capabilities so it could launch attacks across the Middle East if President Donald Trump decides to resume military operations, the sources said. Trump is set to meet with his national security team Thursday to review options — including new military action — for opening the Strait of Hormuz and stripping Iran of any nuclear material, according to another U.S. official. The commander of U.S. Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, was scheduled to brief Trump and members of his national security team about the options, as well as the status of a U.S. blockade, the official said. Trump is expected to decide on the path in the coming days, according to the first U.S. official. A White House official said Trump’s planned mid-May trip to China, which has ties with Iran, is among the factors contributing to his decision-making process as he weighs options in Iran. His visit to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping, which was already postponed once because of the war in Iran, is a “priority,” and the White House really does not want to move it again, the official said.People stand next to an Iranian missile after it fell near Qamishli, Syria, on March 4. Orhan Qereman / ReutersIran began blocking the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. and Israel began its bombing campaign on Feb. 28, and the move has sent global oil prices surging. Trump retaliated with a naval blockade of Iranian ports in the strait, having redirected 41 vessels from transiting the strait as of Wednesday, according to Central Command officials. A temporary ceasefire went into effect on April 8 to allow the U.S. and Iran room to negotiate an end to the war and to reopen the strait, but talks have not produced results. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this month that the U.S. had indications that Iran was trying to reconstitute its military capabilities. “We know what military assets you are moving and where you are moving them to,” he said at the Pentagon April 16. “While you are digging out — which is exactly what you’re doing, digging out of bombed-out and devastated facilities — we are only getting stronger,” Hegseth said. “You are digging out your remaining launchers and missiles with no ability to replace them.” Asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Defense Department pointed to Hegseth’s remarks. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said in a statement that the U.S. military had achieved all of Trump’s objectives in the war in Iran, adding: “Iran’s ballistic missiles are destroyed, their production facilities are