Israel received three new F-35I fighter jets on Thursday, bringing its fleet to 45 ahead of the third round of indirect nuclear talks between the United States and Iran.
The aircraft landed at Nevatim Airbase and joined the Israeli Air Force’s 140th Squadron, the military said.
The F-35s, widely considered the world's most advanced fighter jets, are part of an initial order of 50, with an additional 25 ordered last year amid rising regional tensions.
Paraguay has formally designated Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organization and expanded its classification of Hamas and Hezbollah to include all components of both groups.
The presidential decree issued Thursday cited the Guards’ systematic involvement in human rights violations and participation in terrorist activities on a global scale as justification for the blacklisting. The move was swiftly applauded by the United States as well as Israel.
The US State Department welcomed the decision, calling it “a critical blow to Iran’s terror network in the Western Hemisphere.”
“The important steps Paraguay has taken will help cut off the ability of the Iranian regime and its proxies to plot terrorist attacks and raise money for its malignant and destabilizing activity, including in the Tri-Border Area Paraguay shares with Argentina and Brazil," spokesperson Tammy Bruce said in reference to a region long suspected of financial activity linked to Hezbollah.
Paraguayan President Santiago Peña’s decree also broadens Paraguay’s 2019 designation of the military wings of Hezbollah and Hamas to include their political and social branches, citing their failure to separate military activity from political engagement.
“With these decisions, Paraguay reaffirms its unwavering commitment to peace, international security, and the strict respect for human rights,” Peña said in a statement. He called on the international community to act in a coordinated manner to dismantle terrorist networks.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar praised the move, urging more nations to join in designating the IRGC. “Iran is the world's leading exporter of terrorism and extremism... more countries should follow suit,” he wrote on X.
The United States designated the IRGC as a foreign terrorist organization in 2019 under the Trump administration — the first time Washington had assigned such a label to part of another country’s official military.
Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Bahrain have similarly blacklisted the group. However, within Europe, only a few nations have taken such steps independently.
The European Parliament passed a non-binding resolution in early 2023 calling on the EU to designate the IRGC as a terrorist organization, citing its role in human rights abuses and external operations.
However, the European Union has so far declined to make the designation official, citing legal and diplomatic concerns. Canada listed it in 2014.
The move remains under discussion in the UK as critics of the move argue that an IRGC designation would sever communication between the two.
The IRGC, a powerful branch of Iran’s armed forces, oversees the Quds Force, which is responsible for overseas operations and is accused by Western governments of orchestrating attacks and funding proxy groups, including Hezbollah and Hamas. All three organizations have been widely sanctioned or designated as terrorist groups by the US, Canada, and several other nations.
The Paraguayan decree comes at a time of renewed nuclear negotiations between Iran and the United States. A third round of indirect talks is expected to take place this weekend in Oman, amid growing concerns over Tehran’s nuclear advancements.
“The United States will continue to work with partners such as Paraguay to confront global security threats,” Bruce said. “We call on all countries to hold the Iranian regime accountable and prevent its operatives, recruiters, financiers, and proxies from operating in their territories.”
A senior Iranian military official warned Friday that any hostile action against Iran would be met with a powerful response, referencing recent regional operations and past military victories.
Speaking at a ceremony marking the anniversary of the Iran-Iraq War’s Operation Bazideraz, Brigadier General Majid Khademi, head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Intelligence Protection Organization, said, “If today the enemy makes a wrong move, our forces will act in a way that makes Storm of Al-Aqsa feel like a dawn breeze, and Operation True Promise just a warm-up.”
Tehran refers to its direct strikes on Israel as Operation True Promise, with the first launched in April and the second in October of last year. It has also referred to Hamas’s assault on Israel as the Al-Aqsa Storm.
Khademi’s comments come amid indirect diplomatic engagement between Iran and the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program. While officials on both sides have signaled cautious interest in de-escalation, Iranian military leaders continue to stress deterrence and readiness.
“The enemy knows that military confrontation will be damaging,” Khademi said, without naming a specific country. He also warned of non-military threats, accusing foreign powers of conducting a “soft war” through disinformation and psychological operations aimed at weakening public trust and national unity.
“The battlefield has shifted from territory to minds,” he said, adding that Iran’s adversaries are targeting the “faith, hope, and will” of the younger generation through social media and information warfare.
Iran has finalized four agreements worth a total investment of $4 billion with Russian companies to develop seven oil fields, Oil Minister Mohsen Paknejad said.
During his visit to Moscow for the 18th session of the Iran-Russia Joint Economic Commission, Paknejad said on Thursday that the deals form part of broader efforts to expand strategic cooperation across sectors, including energy, finance, and agriculture.
“The potential for trade between Iran and Russia is far greater than the current $5 billion level,” he said, adding that additional memoranda of understanding are under negotiation in the oil and gas sectors. “Expert groups are actively working to finalize these talks and turn them into binding contracts.”
The oil minister also announced plans for a new nuclear power plant to be constructed in the country, financed by a credit line from Moscow.
Paknejad also said that discussions are underway on importing natural gas from Russia in an initial phase, followed by gas swaps and transit to other countries. “This is one of the key areas of interest for both sides,” he said. “We have had detailed negotiations, and only a few items remain before finalizing the first-phase import volumes.”
The minister added that the latest agreements follow the ratification of a long-term strategic cooperation treaty between Tehran and Moscow. “This is the first joint commission meeting since the treaty’s approval last week, and it opens new pathways for economic collaboration,” he said.
Separately, Saeed Tavakkoli, managing director of Iran’s National Gas Company, said progress has been made on an earlier agreement with Russia to transfer gas to northern Iran, where domestic production is limited. “This plan will help meet energy needs in northern provinces and contribute to Iran’s goal of becoming a regional gas hub,” he said.
Tavakkoli added that while further technical assessments are needed, current negotiations have been effective, and the project aligns with the targets of Iran’s seventh development plan.
The agreements come as Western sanction -- isolating Russia over Ukraine and Iran for its nuclear program, regional role, and human rights -- have spurred a rapid deepening of their ties.
Their shared predicament, alongside a common interest in countering US influence, underpins their growing partnership. Both nations are also exploring ways to bypass these restrictions, including using national currencies and alternative financial channels for trade.
A senior Iranian military official said Friday that the United States is keeping its economy afloat through oil theft, as diplomatic efforts between Tehran and Washington continue.
“America is bankrupt and has stayed afloat through oil theft,” Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Naghdi, the deputy coordinator of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said at a public event, according to the state-affiliated ISNA news agency.
Naghdi added that US efforts to destabilize Iran through sanctions and internal unrest had failed, adding, “They wanted Iranians to protest over bread, but today it is the Americans who are facing economic collapse.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will travel to Muscat on Friday evening at the head of a diplomatic and technical delegation for indirect talks with the United States, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said.
“Based on the schedule arranged by our Omani hosts and agreed upon by Iran and the United States, expert-level meetings and indirect discussions between our foreign minister and the US president’s special envoy will be held on Saturday,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told reporters, according to ILNA.
Baghaei said the Iranian side would proceed “step by step, based on the behavior of the other party,” and that “no effort will be spared to secure the legitimate rights and interests of the Iranian people.”
He added that progress in negotiations depends on the other side showing “goodwill, seriousness, and realism.”