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Has the US accepted Iran’s demand to settle Hormuz first, nuclear later?

The US pauses Hormuz escorts after Pakistan-led mediation gains traction, signalling a shift towards a limited framework deal.

Aljazeera, By Abid Hussain 6 May 2026

Islamabad, Pakistan – On Monday morning, the United States Navy began escorting commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz. By Tuesday afternoon, the operation had been paused.

President Donald Trump announced the reversal on Truth Social, citing the “request of Pakistan and other Countries” and “great progress” towards a “complete and final agreement” with Iran.

Earlier on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared that Operation Epic Fury, the air and naval campaign launched on February 28, was “concluded”.

What Washington now sought, he said, was a “memorandum of understanding for future negotiations”.

For weeks, that is precisely what Iran has been demanding.

In proposals passed on to the US through Pakistan, Iran has in recent weeks sought multistage negotiations, with a preliminary deal aimed at ending the war, and negotiations on the White House’s demands that Tehran end its nuclear programme pushed for later.

Trump and his administration resisted, with the US president insisting that getting Iran to give up its nuclear programme was central to any deal with Tehran.

Now, the US appears to have come around to accepting Iran’s demand, say experts. On Wednesday, the Reuters news agency and the US publication Axios reported that the US and Iran were close to agreeing to a one-page MoU to end the war, even though there have been no detailed negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear programme.

Seyed Mojtaba Jalalzadeh, an international relations analyst based in Tehran, said the week’s diplomatic signals reflected a sober reassessment in Washington of what was achievable.

“Moving towards a memorandum of understanding, a framework for future talks, is a good, viable and important first step to solve the immediate problem,” he told Al Jazeera.

Shift amid fraying ceasefire

Pakistani officials close to the country’s efforts to mediate peace between the US and Iran told Al Jazeera that Islamabad’s role as an intermediary had intensified in recent days, with senior officials in direct communication with both sides. Details of those exchanges remain closely held.

On Wednesday afternoon in Islamabad, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif responded to Trump’s announcement of the pause in the operation to open the Strait of Hormuz, naming Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as a partner who prodded the US president to suspend the military mission in the waterway.

Pakistan, Sharif wrote on social media, was “very hopeful that the current momentum will lead to a lasting agreement that secures durable peace and stability for the region and beyond”.

Just 24 hours earlier, that optimism would have appeared misplaced.

Since the weekend, an already fragile ceasefire between the US and Iran appeared to be fraying.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly launched missiles and drones at the United Arab Emirates on Monday and Tuesday, the first such attacks since the April 8 truce. An oil facility in Fujairah was struck, wounding three Indian workers. Iran denied involvement.

The US and Iran each claimed they had hit the other’s ships, and each denied the other’s claims of success.

Washington, however, declined to escalate. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Dan Caine said the incidents remained “all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations”. US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the ceasefire “certainly holds”.

Has Washington blinked?

The central question is whether the US has, implicitly, accepted Iran’s core demand: end the war and settle the Strait of Hormuz first, with the nuclear programme to follow.

Rubio’s Tuesday briefing suggests a sharp departure from Washington’s initial position.

At the outset, the US outlined four objectives: destroy Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, dismantle its navy, sever support for armed proxies, and ensure Iran never obtained a nuclear weapon.

A 15-point proposal delivered to Tehran via Pakistan in late March went further. It called for dismantling nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow, handing over highly enriched uranium to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and permanently prohibiting nuclear weapons development.

By contrast, Rubio declared the military phase over. Nuclear material, he said, “has to be addressed” and is “being addressed in the negotiation”, but he declined to elaborate.

What Washington now seeks is an MoU, a framework defining “the topics that they’ve agreed to negotiate on” and “the concessions they are willing to make at the front end”.

That marks a significant shift from March.

In early April, he warned that “a whole civilisation will die tonight” if Iran did not yield. This week, he called for an agreement to be “finalised and signed”……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/5/6/has-the-us-accepted-irans-demand-to-settle-hormuz-first-nuclear-later

May 9, 2026 Posted by | politics international | Leave a comment

Korean A-Bomb Victims U.S. Speaking Tour & NPT Engagement Highlights

6 May 26. https://abombtribunal.campaignus.me/34/?q=YToxOntzOjEyOiJrZXl3b3JkX3R5cGUiO3M6MzoiYWxsIjt9&bmode=view&idx=171136567&t=board

The Korean Atomic Bomb Victims U.S. Speaking Tour was successfully held from April 20 to May 2, 2026

First- and second-generation Korean atomic bomb survivors visited major cities across the United States in connection with the 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), where they shared their long-overlooked experiences and called for an official apology and compensation for the 1945 atomic bombings. Through powerful testimonies, the speakers highlighted the reality that, although victims exist, responsibility has yet to be fully acknowledged. Their accounts underscored the ongoing, intergenerational suffering that has continued for more than 80 years since the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

From April 20 to May 2, 2026, first- and second-generation Korean atomic bomb survivors carried out a nationwide speaking tour across the United States. Held in conjunction with the 11th NPT Review Conference, the tour brought long-overlooked histories of Korean victims into international nuclear discourse.

Throughout the tour, survivors raised international awareness about the more than 70,000 Korean victims of the atomic bombings—many of whose stories have remained largely unheard globally. They also emphasized that Korean survivors have neither disappeared from history nor remained silent, but have continuously struggled for recognition and redress.

The tour was jointly organized by SPARK (Solidarity for Peace and Reunification of Korea), the International Organizing Committee of the A-Bomb Tribunal, and Korean atomic bomb victims. It brought renewed attention to the need for accountability, including an official apology and reparations from the United States for the historical injustice and prolonged suffering endured by Korean survivors.

As part of the program, the delegation visited major cities including Seattle, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York, with events held at institutions such as San Francisco State University, California State University, Sacramento, UCLA, and CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice. They also engaged with local civil society organizations and Korean American communities in each city, delivering testimonies on the enduring impacts of nuclear violence and their lifelong efforts toward justice and compensation.

Through this speaking tour, the issue of Korean atomic bomb victims was brought more prominently to the attention of the international community, and significant support, interest, and participation were secured for the upcoming International People’s Tribunal. The success of the tour was made possible by the generous moral and material support of partners in each region, and in particular by the dedicated efforts of the members of the International Organizing Committee.

Building on this momentum, organizers called on global civil society to participate in the upcoming International People’s Tribunal on the 1945 Atomic Bombings (A-Bomb Tribunal), scheduled to be held in Seoul from November 13 to 15, 2026.

Selected photos from each event are included below. [on original]

May 9, 2026 Posted by | Events, South Korea, USA | Leave a comment

Trump claims his mass murder in the Caribbean saved a million American lives…real number 0

Walt Zlotow  West Suburban Peace Coalition Glen Ellyn IL, 6 May 26

President Trump sure loves committing mass murder worldwide. Gaza, Iran, Somalia, Niger, Iraq, Yemen, Venezuela are among nations he’s victimized with violent murder. Add in countries like Cuba where he’s essentially murdering innocents with life suffocating sanctions, he’s racked up tens if not over a hundred thousand deaths in 6 years exercising his presidential License To Kill.

While bombing innocents worldwide was practiced by all presidents since at least Bill Clinton, Trump is unique in ordering mass murder bombing of small boats in the Caribbean. He ghoulishly lunched Operation Southern Spear in the Caribbean last September. In the past 8 months Trump, playing Long John Silver instead of a decent world leader, has blasted 54 little boats to smithereens, sending 185 innocents to Davy Jones Locker.  

His justification? ‘Oh they’re certainly running fentanyl and cocaine to the Homeland killing millions of Americans.’ Trump claims the boats were all part of 24 narco terrorist cartels but couldn’t name a single one. When a couple of Trump’s targets survived the bombing, Trump’s military polished them off with another murderous salvo. ‘Can’t let these stinkin’ narco terrorists floating around gathering up the drug packages floating nearby’ was the justification for instant execution.

Trump lies shamelessly about everything. But his Whoppers about the bombings dwarf anything Burger King could cook up. Trump claims “Drugs entering our country by sea are down 97 percent.” More absurd, Trump calculates each boat he obliterates saves 25,000 American lives. Both figures are so preposterous one must ponder where he pulls them from.

Funny, if drugs arrivals are down 97%, one might conclude that border drug seizures would be similarly down. Yet, Customs and Border Protection note that seizures at U.S. borders and along coasts have increased from 38,000 lbs. to 44,000 lbs. (16%) in the 7 months following Trump’s mass murder spree compared to the 7 months before it began. In drug crazed America, usage is up, prices are stable and supply is plentiful.

But with Trump steering the Ship of State, state sponsored murder is up, prices of everything legal are escalating, and display of decency, morality and common sense nowhere to be found. 

May 9, 2026 Posted by | spinbuster, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Trump’s New Iran Negotiator Is Israel Lobbyist Who Denounced Negotiations With Iran

  Max Blumenthal, May 5, 2026, https://thegrayzone.com/2026/05/05/trumps-iran-negotiator-israel-lobbyist/

Tapped to advise Steve Witkoff on Iran, Nick Stewart previously condemned dealing with any of Iran’s elected leaders. His presence consolidates military conflict as the Trump administration’s only option.

The latest addition to the Trump administration’s Iran negotiation team, Nick Stewart, has declared his absolute opposition to negotiating with the Islamic Republic of Iran. According to Stewart, “it’s important that we disabuse people of that notion” that anyone among Iran’s current leadership could serve as an “honest broker.”

Stewart aruged that even the reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian must be treated as an inveterate enemy because he is “a part of the theocratic, tyrannical, authoritarian government of Iran.” He insisted that Pezeshkian “is not a reformer and we shouldn’t buy into that narrative, because what it does is it throws us off our guard.”

Stewart made these comments while chairing a panel for the pro-war Vandenberg Coalition in Washington DC on October 4, 2024. He was seated beside Cameron Khansarinia, the Secretariat of self-proclaimed “Crown Prince” Reza Pahlavi, neoconservative ideologue and former Special Advisor for Iran Elliot Abrams, and Behnam Ben Taleblu, an operative at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies (FDD).

At the time, Stewart functioned as FDD’s top Capitol Hill lobbyist.

When it was founded in 2001, FDD was named EMET, which is Hebrew for “truth.” The think tank described its mission as working to “enhance Israel’s image in North America and the public’s understanding of issues affecting Israeli-Arab relations.”

In 2017, a top Israeli military-intelligence official cited FDD as a partner in a covert Israeli campaign to spy on Americans involved in Palestine solidarity activism. Under Trump, the outfit has dictated the administration’s Iran policy to the point that the White House plagiarized its justification for attacking Iran from a document posted on FDD’s website.

Stewart was reportedly selected by Jared Kushner to advise Steve Witkoff, a real estate mogul and Trump golf buddy who serves as the ironically titled Special Envoy for Peace Missions. Kushner Witkoff’s demonstrable ignorance of Iranian affairs, reflexive deference to Israel and crude profiteering helped inspire Iran’s rejection of the last round of negotiations. With Stewart on their team, it should be obvious to Tehran that there is no honest broker in Washington.

May 9, 2026 Posted by | politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Yukon and Ontario and SMRs – Memorandum of Misunderstanding? 

The Yukon public and their elected representatives may not fully understand the implications of introducing small modular nuclear reactors into their electricity mix.

The governments of Yukon and Ontario recently signed a partnership agreement to share Ontario’s expertise about energy development, which includes evaluation of small modular and micro-reactors. The Yukon wants to reduce reliance on diesel while meeting increasing electricity demand. 

There are glaring problems with this memorandum of understanding. 

First: the Ontario government cannot share what it doesn’t know. There has not been a single successful commercial SMR built worldwide. Construction of the much-touted Darlington New Nuclear Project in Ontario has barely begun.

Second: There is little private investment interest in this technology due to: 

  • the extraordinarily high cost ($7.7 billion for the first BWRX-300 SMR at Darlington), 
  • long timeline to completion (nuclear reactors have taken years longer than expected to build) 
  • risks associated with accidents

Third: The Ontario public bears the full cost of building and maintaining Ontario’s reactors, remediating environmental damage, the costs of decommissioning reactors at their end of life, and management of the radioactive waste for which there is no feasible solution. Can Yukon afford this expensive electricity source?

Fourth: Nuclear reactors are notoriously unreliable; some are offline for long periods of time, like Point Lepreau in New Brunswick (which operated only 27% of the time in the 2024-2025 fiscal year), requiring diesel or gas backup to meet electricity demands.

May 9, 2026 Posted by | Canada, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors | Leave a comment

A Nobel Effort: Parliamentary call for common security and nuclear disarmament

Presentation by Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND)
to the 2026 NPT Review Conference.
May 1, 2026
United Nations, New York
DELIVERED BY BILL KIDD MSP, PNND CO-PRESIDENT

Your Excellencies,
We are meeting at the United Nations in New York at a time of devastating armed conflicts,
an erosion of multilateralism and the rule of law, a renewed nuclear arms race, increased
risks and specific threats to use nuclear weapons, increasingly severe climate-change induced
disasters and a looming existential threat to humanity from high levels of Green House Gas
emissions.
I am addressing this Review Conference in my role as a Co-President of Parliamentarians for
Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, a network of parliamentarians representing
citizens of nations around the world with their concerns over the dangers presented by
nuclear weapons.

I have spent 19 years as a Member of the Scottish Parliament working for the removal of
Trident nuclear weapons from the land and waters of Scotland – where the entire nuclear
arsenal of the United Kingdom is based just 30 miles from the homes of a half of the Scottish
Population.
Parliamentarians are active in their national assemblies, and through organizations like the
Inter-Parliamentary Union and PNND to address these issues. We appeal to you as
representatives of governments to do likewise.
Together, we need to elevate diplomacy, cooperative leadership, common security and the
rule of law in order to prevent nuclear war, resolve international conflicts peacefully, protect
the climate for current and future generations and set in motion concrete processes to
achieve the peace and security of a nuclear-weapon-free world.

We need to strengthen the roles of the UN General Assembly, International Court of Justice
and International Criminal Court to prevent – and build accountability for – acts of aggression.
And we need to support the establishment of additional nuclear-weapon-free zones,
especially in the Middle East.
In these ways we can replace the reliance on nuclear deterrence with reliance on common
security.


In 2024, 70 parliamentarians from 34 legislatures endorsed the appeal Turn Back the
Doomsday Clock which was presented to the NPT Prep Com in Geneva. It includes nine
concrete recommendations for achieving the peace and security of a nuclear weapon free
world – a world based on the common security of the UN Charter, not the threat or use of
force. You can view these recommendations in the written version of our statement today.
One immediate step not included in our 2024 appeal, is to end the war by US and Israel
against Iran through common security. Newsweek recently shared an article by PNND Council
Member, Jonathan Granoff, titled War Will Not Stop Iran’s Nuclear Threat, This Could.

It advocates making comprehensive inspection safeguards, much like the JCPOA and the
Chemical Weapons Convention, apply to all non-nuclear weapons states parties to the NPT,
not just Iran. This would make the world safer, stop the next North Korea, and allow both the
USA and Iran to rightfully claim a victory for the world. It would also strengthen the
legitimacy of the NPT regime by reinforcing its nonproliferation pillar. Would it per se
advance disarmament? No, but stopping a war and saving the unique legal instrument that
obligates the P5 to achieve nuclear disarmament is worth our efforts.
PNND highlights that 2026 is the 125th anniversary of the first Nobel Peace Prize, which was
jointly awarded to Henri Dunant (Switzerland) for founding the International Committee of
the Red Cross and to Frédéric Passy (France) for co-founding the Inter-Parliamentary
Union and for being instrumental in the establishment of the first international tribunal –
the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The vision and leadership of these Nobel Laureates can
help inspire us today.
We cordially invite you to a side-event on May 6 organised by PNND and the InterParliamentary Union entitled A Nobel Effort: The Roles and Actions of Parliamentarians to
support Diplomacy, Disarmament and International Humanitarian Law where we will discuss
these ideas in more depth.

May 9, 2026 Posted by | politics international | Leave a comment

The Second Global Sumud Flotilla: Israeli Piracy and Abduction on the High Seas

6 May 2026 Dr Binoy Kampmark, https://theaimn.net/the-second-global-sumud-flotilla-israeli-piracy-and-abduction-on-the-high-seas/

They have become adept flouters of international law. When doing so, they justify such violations with streaky, anaemic interpretations of self-defence and security. The Global Sumud Flotilla’s encore effort to break the Gaza blockade, which has been in place with varying forms of severity since 2007, did have one meritorious claim. After vanishing under a news cycle saturated with the Iran War, the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and a global energy crisis, the unpardonably miserable plight of Gazans did make a return to the media stage.

The state of catastrophic misery for those on the Gaza Strip is something the Israeli authorities refuse to ameliorate. Despite the illusory ceasefire that commenced on October 9, 2025, Israel maintains an asphyxiating role over the narrow territory, much of which it has subjected to occupation. Since then, it continues to permit an excruciatingly limited number of supplies to a largely displaced population. On April 10, the United Nations Human Rights Chief Volker Türk made remarks about the ongoing nature of the killings and depredations by Israeli forces. Till that point, 738 Palestinians had been killed since the ceasefire had come into effect. “For the past 10 days, the Palestinians are still being killed and injured in what is left of their homes, shelters and tents of displaced families, on the streets, in vehicles, at a medical facility and a classroom.” Humanitarian personnel and journalists also continue to feature in the casualty lists.

The purpose of the Global Sumud Flotilla, as with its mission in September 2025, was to “not only break Israel’s illegal siege and deliver life-saving humanitarian aid, but also to establish a sustained civilian presence.” Participants include doctors, nurses, eco-builders, war crimes investigators, civilian protectors (unarmed) and a miscellany of others. With missionary zeal, those involved intend to “begin rebuilding healthcare systems and basic infrastructure destroyed over the past two years” even under fire from Israeli forces.

On March 27, the Palestinian NGOs Network (PNGO) released a statement commending those involved in the Freedom Flotillas, praising the efforts of the organisers “of the new Global Sumud Flotilla, which is set to depart soon.” The group acknowledged the need to escalate and strengthen “solidarity efforts with the Palestinian people” in the wake of such distractions offered by the “ongoing war in the Gulf region and the Israeli-American aggression.” Following a symbolic launch in Barcelona on April 12, the flotilla, made up of 58 vessels, set out.

On April 30, the flotilla, still in international waters off Greece, was intercepted by Israeli forces. Al Jazeera reported that the majority of 175 activists captured were taken to Crete, with Saif Abu Keshek from Spain and Brazilian Thiago Ávila proving worthy of being taken to Israel for questioning. According to Israel’s Foreign Ministry, both are affiliated with the Popular Conference for Palestinians Abroad (PCPA), a group they regard as clandestinely affiliated with Hamas.

The interception troubled Amnesty International’s Senior Director for Research, Policy, and Campaigns, Erika Guevara Rosas. “The Israeli navy crossing hundreds of miles just to ensure civilian boats carrying food, baby formula, and medical supplies don’t make it to Palestinians reveals the lengths Israel is prepared to go in order to maintain its cruel and unlawful 19-year-long blockade of the occupied Gaza Strip.”

The conduct of the IDF did not go unremarked in a number of capitals. The Foreign Ministries of Spain, Türkiye, Brazil, Jordan, Pakistan, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Colombia, Maldives, South Africa and Libya issued a joint statement condemning “in strongest terms the Israeli assault” on the flotilla, “a peaceful civilian humanitarian initiative aimed at drawing the attention of the international community to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza.”

The World Federation of Trade Unions expressed the firm view that the act had been one of piracy, involving the sabotage and destruction of boats, the assault and attack of activists and the abandonment of some of their number at sea “with no means of reaching land.” The WTFU also took issue with the illegal detention of Abu Keshek, a member of the World Federation and a trade unionist of the Catalan union IAC.

On May 3, the state attorney presented a list of offences to the Ashkelon Magistrates’ Court including “assisting the enemy during wartime” and “membership in and providing services to a terrorist organisation.” Spain’s Foreign Ministry unequivocally rejects the claims, insisting on Abu Keshek’s immediate release.

On May 5, the Court granted the state’s request to prolong the detention of Abu Keshek and Ávila being held at Shikma Prison till May 10. Their conditions feature total isolation, sleep deprivation through using high-intensity lighting in cold cells for 24-hour spells, and blindfolds when moved outside their quarters, including when medically inspected. Both have furnished testimony to the Israeli-based human rights group Adalah, which is acting on their behalf, noting “severe physical abuse amounting to torture.” The detainees are also undertaking a hunger strike, having only consumed water since April 30.

Adalah reasons that such a decision amounted “to judicial validation of the state’s lawlessness.” The six-day extension had also been granted “without imposing any limitations or judicial constraints on the interrogation period.” An appeal is being mustered by the group, which argues that an abduction undertaken over 1,000 kilometres from Gaza of non-Israeli citizens excludes the application of Israeli domestic law.

In drumming up such publicity, the question of effectuality arises. At what point does citizenry activism, decked out and decorated by high profile activists, win through? Do participants become, after a time, victims of their own futile publicity, their actions easily dismissed as stunts lost in the cul-de-sac of ineffective virtue? Figures such as the Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who was on her second flotilla outing, can be easy fodder for the establishment machine, portrayed as privileged in grievance, cunningly exploited by the unscrupulous. This is certainly a line pursued by Israeli propaganda.

That line, however, has failed to neutralise the symbolic freight borne by the flotilla. Israel’s attempts to stifle the focus on Gaza has not worked, though the authorities were careful, unlike their previous violent outing of piracy and abduction, not to detain Thunberg longer than was needed. Low lying fruit, more easily bruised by faulty accusations of aiding a terrorist adversary, was preferred. It is an approach that is fast unravelling.

May 9, 2026 Posted by | Israel, Legal | Leave a comment

The mainstream media is finally beginning to echo Americans’ outrage at Israeli slaughter

Over the past two years, Israel has lost the support of the American public and is now losing one of its last bulwarks in the political arena — prominent voices in the mainstream media.

By Philip Weiss  April 29, 2026, https://mondoweiss.net/2026/04/the-mainstream-media-is-finally-beginning-to-echo-americans-outrage-at-israeli-slaughter/

The ‘Cronkite moment’ during the Vietnam War was the night in 1968 when CBS anchor Walter Cronkite said the U.S. was stuck in a “stalemate” and that the only honorable path was to negotiate a withdrawal. President Johnson concluded that he’d lost Middle America and soon decided not to run for reelection. 

Israel lost Middle America at least a year ago, according to opinion polls, and it is at last losing what is more important to its support, prominent mainstream voices, the Cronkites of our era. 

On April 23, Geoff Bennett of the PBS NewsHour did the unthinkable. He sharply questioned the Israeli ambassador to the U.N. over Israel’s (wanton) killings of civilians and journalists in Lebanon. 

“How many civilian deaths per Hezbollah target is acceptable? Is it five? Is it 10? Is it 300? Or is there no ceiling at all?” Bennet said. 

And this, too: “What military objective is served by killing reporters?”

Ambassador Danny Danon did what any self-respecting spokesperson for Israel does in such a spot . . . he accused Geoff Bennett of antisemitism. He said the charges were a lie and a “blood libel.” But Bennett did what no broadcaster does, and fought back.

“I take issue with that, sir,” he said and cited Committee to Protect Journalists figures on 15 reporters and media workers killed in Lebanon. 

The NewsHour surely anticipates criticism of Bennett’s refusal to accept Israeli propaganda (a sharp departure from the Dana Bashes and Jake Tappers of the world). So it has headlined the story, “Israel’s U.N. ambassador says IDF is the ‘most moral military in the world.’” Giving Danon a victory, though Danon is peeved. 

May 9, 2026 Posted by | Israel, media, USA | Leave a comment

Trump attacks Pope Leo again ahead of Marco Rubio’s Vatican visit

by Gerard O’Connell, May 5, 2026, https://www.americamagazine.org/vatican-dispatch/2026/05/05/trump-pope-leo-marco-rubio/?utm_source=ActiveCampaign&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Trump%20attacks%20Pope%20Leo%20again%20ahead%20of%20Marco%20Rubio%20s%20Vatican%20visit&utm_campaign=Daily%205%205%2026

On the eve of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to the Vatican on May 7—a visit  widely seen in Rome as an attempt to restore more tranquil relations with the White House—President Donald J. Trump publicly attacked Pope Leo, alleging that “he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people” and falsely claiming yet again that for the pontiff, “it’s O.K. for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

His latest attack came on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” when the host told the president, who is going to China on May 14-15, that he wanted the pope to talk about Jimmy Lai, the imprisoned Hong Kong Catholic businessman and democracy activist, and for Mr. Trump “to bring him home.” Mr. Trump responded: “The pope would rather talk about the fact that it’s O.K. for Iran to have a nuclear weapon. I don’t think that’s very good. I think he’s endangering a lot of Catholics and a lot of people, but I guess, if it’s up to the pope, he thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.” Mr. Hewitt commented, “He’s from Chicago; he’s got to learn a few things.” 

Before returning to Rome from Castel Gandolfo on Tuesday, Pope Leo responded to journalists about President Trump’s attack but without mentioning his name.

“The church’s mission is to preach the Gospel and peace. If anyone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so,” the pope said.

“I have spoken about this from the very moment I was elected, and now we are nearing the anniversary. I said [then], “Peace be with you.” 

“The church’s mission is to preach the Gospel, to preach peace,” he repeated.

“If anyone wants to criticize me for proclaiming the Gospel, let them do so with the truth,” he said. Then alluding to the fact that Trump had accused him of being in favor of Iran having nuclear weapons—a false charge—Pope Leo said: “For years, the church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons, so there is no doubt about that. And so I simply hope to be heard for the sake of the value of God’s words.”

For his part, Mr. Rubio downplayed the rift between President Trump and Pope Leo over Iran, saying that Mr. Trump’s recent criticisms were rooted in his opposition to Iran potentially obtaining a nuclear weapon, which he said could be used against millions of Catholics and other Christians. Mr. Rubio said the whole world should be opposed to that.

Mr. Trump “doesn’t understand why anybody—leave aside the pope, the president and I, for that matter—[I] think most people cannot understand why anyone would think that it’s a good idea for Iran to ever have a nuclear weapon,” Mr. Rubio told reporters at the White House.

President Trump openly denigrated Pope Leo for the first time on Truth Social shortly after the airing of a segment on CBS’s “60 Minutes” on the evening of April 12, which featured three American cardinals—Blase Cupich, Robert McElroy and Joseph Tobin—who came out strongly against the war by Israel and the United States against Iran, calling it ‘unjust.” 

Mr. Trump did not strike out against the cardinals; instead, he publicly disparaged Leo, decrying the pope as “weak on crime” and “terrible on foreign policy.” His attack came hours before Leo set out on a visit to four African countries on the morning of April 13. 

On the plane to Algeria, in response to journalists’ questions, Pope Leo said, “I have no fear neither of the Trump administration nor speaking out loudly of the message of the Gospel, which is what I believe I am here to do, what the church is here to do.” 

On another occasion, Mr. Trump falsely accused Leo of being in favor of a nuclear-armed Iran, ignoring the fact that the American-born pope, like his predecessors, is for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. Pope Francis declared that not only is the use of nuclear arms immoral but also the possession of such weapons. Today, nine states have nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, China, France, the United Kingdom, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel.

When President Trump threatened to wipe out the “whole civilization” of Iran, Pope Leo on April 7 denounced this threat against the Iranian people as “truly unacceptable” and called on the citizens of the countries involved in the war in Iran “to contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen—to ask them, tell them, to work for peace and to reject war always.” Moreover, during his visit to Africa, he stated that he “cannot be in favor of war” and said he was not interested in engaging in a debate with Mr. Trump.

Mr. Rubio, a Catholic of Cuban descent, will be received by Pope Leo in a private audience on May 7. The Vatican confirmed this on May 4 and said the meeting would begin at 11:30 a.m. and end at noon. Mr. Rubio and Vice President JD Vance first met Leo on May 19, the day after the formal inauguration of the Petrine ministry of the first American pope. On that occasion, Mr. Vance handed the pope a letter from President Trump inviting him to visit the United States. 

Mr. Rubio is the first high-level official from the Trump administration to meet the pope since that May 19 meeting, and there have been major differences between the Holy See and the U.S. administration on domestic and foreign policy issues since then, many of which the pope alluded to in his Jan. 9 speech to the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. 

Those tensions are wide-ranging and extend from major differences over the Trump administration’s sidelining of multilateralism, its breaches of international law, the mass deportation of migrants, the gutting of the U.S. Agency for International Development, the wars in the Middle East, the crisis between the Trump administration and the European Union over Ukraine and Iran and much else. 

In addition, there is the quite extraordinary fact that President Trump has not spoken by phone with the pope since Leo’s election on May 8, 2025, almost exactly one year ago. But he has invited the pope’s brother Louis, whom the president described as “all MAGA,” to the White House. Moreover, he even claimed that then-Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected pope only because Donald J. Trump was president.

May 9, 2026 Posted by | Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

The man who blew up a nuclear power station and disappeared

 In December 1982, South African Rodney Wilkinson walked four bombs into
Koeberg power station – the crown jewel of the apartheid state – pulled
the pins and then left on his bicycle. How did he do it?…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Guardian 5th May 2026
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/may/05/the-man-who-blew-up-a-nuclear-power-station-

May 9, 2026 Posted by | history | Leave a comment