Who Holds the Trigger
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned on Wednesday that if the United States renews attacks on Iran, the resulting war would spread far beyond the Middle East and that its “devastating blows will crush you.” The warning came in a statement on the IRGC’s Sepah News website, a blunt reminder that decisions made by state power blocs can drag ordinary people across borders into the machinery of war.
The statement said, “If the aggression against Iran is repeated, the promised regional war will this time spread far beyond the region, and our devastating blows will crush you.” It also said, “The American-Zionist enemy… must know that despite the offensive carried out against us using the full capabilities of the world’s two most expensive armies, we have not deployed the full power of the Islamic revolution.”
The People Under the Bombs
The remarks came amid heightened tensions over Iran’s nuclear program and U.S. threats to strike again if a deal is not reached. The Times of Israel report said the warning followed comments by US President Donald Trump, who said he was willing to wait a few days for the “right answer” from Iran and that talks were “right on the borderline.” Trump said, “It’s right on the borderline, if we don’t get the right answers, it goes very quickly,” and added, “We’re all ready to go.” He also said, “We have to get the right answers [from Iran], so it’d have to be complete 100% good answers, and if we do, we save a lot of time, energy and lives.” He said it “could be a few days, but it could go very quickly,” and that the United States was dealing with “people that are, I think, far more reasonable than the people that are really no longer with us… so hopefully those people will make a deal that’s going to be great for everyone.”
Trump also said Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would do “whatever I want” when it comes to a potential military strike on Iran. Asked about a Tuesday phone call with Netanyahu, Trump said, “He’s a very good man, he’ll do whatever I want him to do. And he’s a great guy… Don’t forget he was a wartime prime minister.” The report said Trump had earlier told reporters that the war “will end very quickly.” It also said that on Tuesday Trump said he could wait “two or three days” or for “a limited period of time” after announcing that he canceled a strike planned for Tuesday.
Backroom Mediation, Frontline Pressure
The report said Axios reported that during the Tuesday call Trump updated Netanyahu on new mediation efforts by several Arab and Muslim states to reach a deal between the United States and Iran. The emerging proposal was reportedly drafted by Qatar and Pakistan with input from regional mediators Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt. It would see Washington and Tehran sign a “letter of intent” that would officially end the war and open 30 days of negotiations on issues including reopening the Strait of Hormuz and limiting Iran’s nuclear program, a US source involved in the phone call told Axios.
The two leaders disagreed on the path forward, with Netanyahu skeptical of the framework and believing the United States should continue applying military pressure on Iran to further weaken the regime by destroying its critical infrastructure, two Israeli sources said. The US source said Netanyahu’s “hair was on fire after the call,” while Israeli sources said Netanyahu “is always concerned” about how negotiations with Iran will go, even during stages that previously failed. The Prime Minister’s Office and the White House declined to comment to Axios on the report.
The report said mediators had been working over the last several days to bridge gaps on the last Pakistani proposal, and that Qatar recently presented the United States and Iran with a new draft, according to two Arab sources and an Israeli source. A fourth Qatari source said there is no separate draft from Qatar and that Doha is only aiming to improve the Pakistani draft. The current efforts aim to secure stronger commitments from the Iranians regarding limiting their nuclear program and better guarantees from the United States to gradually unfreeze Iranian funds kept abroad, according to the report. Qatar sent a delegation to Tehran earlier this week for talks on the latest draft, as did Pakistan, the report added, while Iran’s Tasnim news agency claimed the United States had submitted a new proposal via Pakistani mediators and that Tehran was reviewing the text.
The War Machine Keeps Moving
The report also said US Vice President JD Vance told reporters on Tuesday that “a lot of good progress is being made” in the efforts to reach a deal and added, “We’re just going to keep working at it.” At the same time, he warned Iran that the US military was “locked and loaded.” Also on Tuesday, the US Senate advanced a war powers resolution, as a fourth Republican joined Democrats in their efforts to assert authority over the conflict, though support for passing the measure remained short of a majority.
Amid the tension, Pakistan’s interior minister headed to Iran on Wednesday for the second time this week, Iranian state media reported. Iran’s official IRNA news agency said, citing diplomatic sources in Islamabad, that “Mohsin Naqvi traveled to Tehran to meet officials from the Islamic Republic.” The report said Pakistan has been mediating between Iran and the United States, with Naqvi previously in Tehran on Saturday to “facilitate” the process, according to Iranian media.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said further hostilities in the Middle East would be “inadvisable,” calling for a ceasefire as he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing on Wednesday, according to Chinese state media. Xinhua reported Xi as saying, “A comprehensive ceasefire is of utmost urgency, resuming hostilities is even more inadvisable and maintaining negotiations is particularly important.”
Turkey said on Wednesday that Germany would send it a Patriot missile defense system for a six-month deployment from June to replace a system deployed as part of NATO measures in southeast Turkey to bolster air defenses. In March, Ankara said a US Patriot system was deployed to southeast Turkey, near a NATO radar base, in the face of missile threats from Iran. NATO defenses shot down four ballistic missiles launched from Iran during the war. The Turkish Defense Ministry said, “In addition to the Spanish Patriot air defense system currently deployed in our country, one of the two additional Patriot systems deployed by NATO due to the conflicts between the US, Israel, and Iran will be replaced by a German system.” It said, “This replacement is planned to be completed in June, and the system is expected to remain operational for approximately six months,” adding that security evaluations will continue in coordination with allies.
Jordan announced it had shot down a drone of unknown origin in its airspace on Wednesday, with no casualties reported. The Jordanian Armed Forces said, “This morning, the Jordanian Armed Forces engaged with a drone of unknown origin that entered Jordanian airspace and was brought down in Jerash Governorate, without any injuries.” Jerash Governorate is around 50 kilometers, or 30 miles, north of the capital Amman. The report said that although the Iran ceasefire has mostly held, drones have lately been launched from Iraq toward Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, apparently by Iran’s allies.
The report said Trump and Netanyahu said they launched the war in late February to curb Iran’s support for regional militias, dismantle its nuclear program, destroy its missile capabilities, and create conditions for Iranians to topple their rulers. Iran responded by firing on Israel, US forces and neighboring Mideast countries. The regime also seized control of the Strait of Hormuz, and the United States imposed a blockade on Iranian ships and ports. The war has yet to deprive Iran of its stockpile of near-weapons-grade enriched uranium, though the United States and Israel have said it will be removed from the country by force if not through a deal. The Islamic Republic’s clerical leadership, which had faced a mass uprising at the start of the year, has so far withstood the onslaught.