U.S. President Donald Trump posted a new threat to Iran’s leaders Friday on his Truth Social website, saying: “They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them,” Trump wrote. “What a great honor it is to do so!”
A large explosion struck Iran’s capital in an area filled with demonstrators for the annual Quds Day event in support of the Palestinians, Iranian state television reported. Thousands of people took to the streets in Tehran Friday, chanting “death to Israel” and “death to America.” U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said more than 15,000 enemy targets have been struck.
Four of the six crew members aboard a U.S. military KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq have been found dead, and efforts continue to recover the other two, the American military said in a statement.
Concerns are growing that the war's stranglehold on Gulf oil exports is destabilizing the global economy. Brent crude oil, the international standard, remained over $100 per barrel as Iran kept its stranglehold on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
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Explosion rocked area of mass demonstration in Tehran
There were no immediate reports of casualties after the midday explosion rocked the Ferdowsi Square area as thousands chanted “death to Israel” and “death to America.”
At least two of the Iranian leaders at the scene survived the blast:
1. The hard-liner who leads Iran’s judiciary, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, had been giving an interview to a state television reporter when the strike hit. His bodyguards encircled him as he raised his fist and said Iran will never withdraw “under this rain” of missiles.
2. Senior security official Ali Larijani also was there, and told Iranian media covering the event that the suspected Israeli attack was a “sign of its desperation.”
US Navy destroyers intercept Iranian missiles over Turkey
The U.S. Navy destroyer USS Oscar Austin shot down the Iranian ballistic missile that was intercepted over Turkey on Friday, a U.S. official confirmed to The Associated Press.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss ongoing military operations, said it was the third time in the last two weeks that a US Navy destroyer in the Eastern Mediterranean intercepted an Iranian missile in Turkish airspace.
Hegseth says Iran’s new supreme leader is ‘disfigured’
Hegseth has said that Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded and “likely disfigured.”
Khamenei took over Iran’s leadership following his father’s death. The younger Khamenei has not been seen or heard from publicly since the war started, leading to speculation about his whereabouts and health condition.
On Thursday he made his first public statements, resolving to keep fighting, promising more pain for Gulf Arab states and threatening to open “other fronts” in a war that has already disrupted world energy supplies, the global economy and international travel.
Hegseth did not elaborate on or give evidence about Khamenei’s condition.
Hegseth says an officer has been picked to lead probe into Iran school strike
Hegseth says U.S. Central Command has designated an officer to lead the investigation into a deadly strike on an elementary school in Iran.
The investigating officer was chosen from outside Central Command, which oversees the Middle East.
The strike on the school in the opening hours of the U.S. war in Iran killed more than 165 people, many of them children.
The Associated Press has reported that outdated intelligence likely led the U.S. to carry out the missile strike on the school.
Speaking at media briefing Friday, Hegseth wouldn’t answer questions about what led to the strike, but said the U.S. does not target civilians. He said the investigation will take “as long as necessary.”
“We’ll get to the truth and we’ll share it when we have it,” Hegseth said.
Israeli military suggests it carried out strike during mass demonstrations in Tehran
An airstrike hit near the Quds, or Jerusalem, Day parade after the Israeli military put out a warning in Farsi on X the area could be struck. Now Israeli military has posted a second message in Farsi, noting the head of Iran’s judiciary was there at the time.
“The leaders of the terrorist and bloodthirsty regime have for 47 years shown disregard for the lives of Iran’s citizens, placing people in danger for the sake of the ‘liberation of Jerusalem’ and turning them into human shields to advance their own objectives,” the message said.
The Israeli military also criticized Iran for cutting off the internet, blocking many from seeing their warning.
Hegseth says ‘no clear evidence’ Iran is placing new mines in the Strait
Responding to a shouted question at Friday’s briefing about new Iranian mines impacting the Strait of Hormuz, Hegseth said “we’ve heard them talk about it, just like you’ve reported recklessly and wildly about it, but we have no clear evidence.”
On Tuesday, the U.S. said it took out more than a dozen mine-laying Iranian vessels. Iran has vowed to block the region’s oil exports, with one official saying Iran's enemies won't get “even a single liter.”
Hegseth: Stopping Iran’s nuclear program remains ‘core mission’
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says ending Iran’s nuclear weapons program remains a “core mission” as U.S. and Israeli strikes on the country continue.
Speaking at a media briefing at the Pentagon, Hegseth said President Donald Trump is focused on ending Iran’s ability to manufacture nuclear weapons for good.
Hegseth would not say whether ground forces will be needed to secure Iran’s supply of enriched uranium or its nuclear facilities, but said the U.S. is considering a range of options. He said he would welcome a decision by Iran’s leaders to voluntarily give up their program.
“We’ve said from the beginning: deny Iran nuclear weapons,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth says US is working to make sure ‘energy flows’ through Strait of Hormuz
The defense secretary has told reporters that Iran is “exercising sheer desperation” with its threats that have blocked a significant portion of the world’s oil supply.
“We’re dealing with it,” he told reporters at Friday at the Pentagon. He not give details.
Caine added that the U.S. military has “made it a priority to target Iran’s minelaying enterprise” in the strategic waterway.
Hegseth calls Vance ‘indispensable’ to US leadership over actions in Iran
Hegseth has applauded the U.S. Vice President JD Vance as a “key voice” on Iran, calling him “an incredible member, leader of this team.”
Trump said while dismissing the notion of a disagreement this week that Vance was “philosophically a little bit different than me” at the war’s outset.
Vance, a former Marine, has often reinforced Trump’s vision of an America more focused on solving problems at home than intervening in conflicts abroad. In a 2023 op-ed in The Wall Street Journal getting renewed attention, Vance wrote that Trump had his support because “I know he won’t recklessly send Americans to fight overseas.”
On the eve of the strikes, Vance told The Washington Post there was “ no chance ” the U.S. would become involved in a drawn-out war as it did in Iraq.
Caine gives more details of 4 US airmen killed in refueling plane crash
Hegseth has said that “war is chaos” and that the sacrifice of those killed “will only recommit us to the resolve of this mission” as he acknowledged the crash of an American KC-135 military refueling plane taking part in the operation against Iran.
Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that four airmen had been recovered in what he described as an incident “over friendly territory in western Iraq” that was not the result of hostile or friendly fire.
U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said Thursday that two aircraft had been involved, and one landed safely while the other went down.
Israel’s defense minister says country destroyed key bridge in Lebanon
Israel Katz said Friday that the army destroyed a significant bridge over the Litany River used by Hezbollah to transfer weapons.
The defense minister warned the strike was just the beginning, and that Lebanon would pay a price until Hezbollah was disarmed.
Hegseth says Iran’s missile volume down 90%, drones down 95%
Hegseth offered new details on the operation against Iran at a Friday news conference from the Pentagon, noting the impact of U.S. and Israeli air strikes on the Islamic Republic.
Hegseth said that over 15,000 enemy targets have been struck, which is more than 1000 a day since the war began on Feb. 28.
Iran’s drone attacks in retaliation of the operation have been deadly and include a fatal attack in Kuwait that killed six American soldiers.
Trump says Putin ‘might’ be helping Iran
U.S. President Donald Trump said Russian President Vladimir Putin might be helping Iran.
His comments come after U.S. intelligence indicated Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region.
Trump spoke with Putin earlier this week.
“I think he might be helping them a little bit, yeah, I guess,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News that will air in full later Friday. “And he probably thinks we’re helping Ukraine, right?”
Host Brian Kilmeade noted the U.S. is aiding Ukraine.
“Yeah, we’re helping them also,” Trump continued. “And so he says that, and China would say the same thing, you know. It’s like, hey, they do it and we do it in all fairness.”