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Iran Guards: US Options Are ‘Impossible' Military Operation or 'Bad Deal'

An Iranian woman holds Iran's flag during a rally in Tehran, Iran, April 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
An Iranian woman holds Iran's flag during a rally in Tehran, Iran, April 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
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Iran Guards: US Options Are ‘Impossible' Military Operation or 'Bad Deal'

An Iranian woman holds Iran's flag during a rally in Tehran, Iran, April 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
An Iranian woman holds Iran's flag during a rally in Tehran, Iran, April 29, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday that the United States faced a choice between an "impossible" military operation or a "bad deal" with Tehran.

The Middle East war, launched by the United States and Israel in late February, has been on hold since April 8, with one failed round of peace talks having taken place in Pakistan.

Negotiations have since stalled as the US imposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports, while Iran has kept the key Strait of Hormuz largely closed.

The Guards intelligence organization said that US President Donald "Trump must choose between 'an impossible operation or a bad deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran'", in an online post carried by state television.

It added that the window for US decision-making "has been narrowed", citing what it described as a "shift in tone" from China, Russia and Europe towards Washington as well as what it called an Iranian "deadline" over the US naval blockade, without elaborating.

US outlet Axios, citing two sources briefed on a recent Iranian proposal to the US, reported that Tehran had set "a one-month deadline for negotiations on a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, end the US naval blockade and permanently end the war in Iran and in Lebanon".

On Sunday, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he would be reviewing Iran's latest proposal but added that he "can't imagine that it would be acceptable".

Iranian media, including the Tasnim and Fars news agencies, reported Saturday on the contents of the proposal.

According to Tasnim, Iran has said the outstanding issues between the two sides "should be resolved within 30 days" and should focus "on ending the war instead of extending the ceasefire".

The issues, Tasnim said, included "the withdrawal of US military forces from Iran's periphery, lifting the naval blockade, releasing Iran's frozen assets and lifting sanctions".

The report mentioned "ending the war on all fronts, including Lebanon and agreeing a new mechanism for the Strait of Hormuz".

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World

Rubio to Visit Vatican, Rome after Trump Row

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
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Rubio to Visit Vatican, Rome after Trump Row

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaks during a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony with EU Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maros Sefcovic, at the State Department, Friday, April 24, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will visit Rome and the Vatican this week, an Italian government source said Sunday, weeks after President Donald Trump's stinging criticism of Pope Leo XIV.

Italian media reported that Rubio would meet the US pontiff himself on Thursday.

The government source told AFP that Rubio would meet Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin and Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

The meetings come just weeks after Trump's extraordinary criticism of Pope Leo over the Catholic leader's anti-war rhetoric.

The source said Rubio had asked for a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, one of Trump's closest European allies, whom he turned on after she defended the pope.

Media reports said he was also due to meet Defense Minister Guido Crosetto, amid a deepening rift in transatlantic ties over the Middle East war.

Leo, 70, will on Friday mark one year as leader of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, after being elected by cardinals on May 8, 2025, following the death of Pope Francis.

As the first ever pope from the United States, his words have arguably carried more weight in Washington than previous pontiffs -- and he has used them, criticising notably the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.

But it was the pontiff's increasing anti-war rhetoric, particularly following the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, that triggered Trump's ire.

Leo declared Trump's threat to destroy Iran "unacceptable" and urged Americans to demand that US lawmakers "work for peace".

The US president slammed the pontiff in a social media post as "WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy".

Trump also said he was "not a big fan of Pope Leo" and that he does not "want a pope who thinks it's OK for Iran to have a nuclear weapon."

The pontiff responded by saying he had a "moral duty to speak out" against war -- and then sparked more headlines with a speech in Cameroon lambasting "tyrants" ransacking the world.

However, he insisted afterwards that the remarks were written long before the row, and said he had not intended to start a new debate with the US president.

Christians across the world expressed their solidarity with the pope, and Meloni condemned Trump's remarks as "unacceptable" -- prompting the president to turn his fire on her.

"I'm shocked at her. I thought she had courage, but I was wrong," the US president said in an interview with Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

He accused Meloni -- a far-right leader who has sought to act as a bridge between diverging US and European views -- of failing to help the United States with NATO.

Trump has threatened to pull US troops from Italy, saying Rome "has not been of any help to us" in the Iran war.

He has made a similar threat towards Spain, while the Pentagon has announced it will withdraw 5,000 US troops from Germany.

As of December 31, 2025, there were 12,662 active-duty US troops in Italy and 3,814 in Spain. In Germany, there were 36,436.

World

Israel Court Extends Detention of Gaza Flotilla Activists

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
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Israel Court Extends Detention of Gaza Flotilla Activists

Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila gestures upon his arrival at a court in Ashkelon on May 3, 2026. Photo by Ilia YEFIMOVICH / AFP)

An Israeli court has extended by two days the detention of two activists arrested aboard a Gaza-bound flotilla that was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters near Greece, their lawyer said on Sunday.

Saif Abu Keshek, a Spanish national, and Brazilian Thiago Avila were detained by Israeli authorities late on Wednesday and brought to Israel, while more than 100 other pro-Palestinian activists aboard the boats were taken to the Greek island of Crete.

A court spokesperson confirmed that their remand had been extended until May 5.

The governments of Spain and Brazil issued a joint statement on Friday calling their detention illegal.

The activists were part of a second Global Sumud flotilla, launched in an attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance. The ships had set sail from Barcelona on April 12.

Israeli authorities requested a four-day extension of their arrest on suspicion of offences that include assisting the enemy during wartime, contact with a foreign agent, membership in and providing services to a terrorist organisation, and the transfer of property for a terrorist organization, said rights group Adalah, which is assisting in the activists' defense.

Hadeel Abu Salih, the men's attorney, said that the two deny the allegations. Their arrest was unlawful due to a lack of jurisdiction, she told Reuters at the Ashkelon Magistrate's Court after the hearing, adding that the mission was meant to provide aid to civilians in Gaza, not to any militant group.

Abu Salih said that Abu Keshek and Avila were subjected to violence en route to Israel and kept handcuffed and blindfolded until Thursday morning.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Israel's foreign ministry had on Thursday called the flotilla organizers "professional provocateurs".

"Israel will not allow the breach of the lawful naval blockade on Gaza," it said.

World

Israel Approves Plan to Buy F-35 and F-15IA Jets from Lockheed, Boeing

FILE PHOTO: Lockheed Martin's logo is seen during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Lockheed Martin's logo is seen during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
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Israel Approves Plan to Buy F-35 and F-15IA Jets from Lockheed, Boeing

FILE PHOTO: Lockheed Martin's logo is seen during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Lockheed Martin's logo is seen during Japan Aerospace 2016 air show in Tokyo, Japan, October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo

Israel gave final approval for a plan to purchase two new combat squadrons of F-35 and F-15IA advanced fighter aircraft from Lockheed Martin and Boeing in a deal worth tens of billions of dollars, the defense ministry said on Sunday.

The deal, approved by Israel's Ministerial Committee on Procurement, is a first step in a 350 billion shekel ($119 billion) plan to bolster Israel's military and "strengthen readiness ahead of a demanding decade for Israeli security," it said.

It added that the new squadrons will serve as a ⁠cornerstone of the military's ⁠long-term force development, addressing regional threats and preserving Israel’s strategic air superiority.

"Alongside immediate wartime procurement needs, we have a responsibility to act now to secure the IDF’s military edge ten years from now and beyond," said ministry director general Amir Baram, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

The recent war with Iran "reinforced just how critical the US-Israel strategic relationship is, and how essential advanced air power ⁠remains," he added.

Under the deal, Israel would buy a fourth F-35 squadron from Lockheed Martin and a second squadron of F-15IA fighter jets from Boeing, Reuters reported.

In December, Boeing was given an $8.6 billion contract for Israel including 25 new F-15IAs and an option for 25 more.

Baram said the next step would be to move forward with finalizing the agreements with the US government and military counterparts.

The US and Israel launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28, but a ceasefire has been in place since April 8. The US Navy maintains a blockade of Iranian ports.

Defense Minister Israel Katz said the Iranian conflict demonstrated ⁠the air ⁠force's power and its decisive role in protecting Israel.

"The lessons of that campaign require us to keep pressing forward on force buildup, to ensure air superiority for decades to come," he said.

Israeli aircraft have also attacked Iranian-backed Hamas militants in Gaza and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel.

Katz said the new aircraft would lead to a significant technological leap in integrating autonomous flight capabilities, next-generation defense systems, and establishing Israeli military dominance in space.

"Our mission is clear: to ensure the IDF has the tools, capabilities, and strength to operate anywhere, at any time," Katz said. "We will continue to invest, to grow stronger, and to stay ahead of our enemies - to keep Israel secure today and in the future."