In a final, sweeping declaration on a day of extraordinary violence, President Donald Trump promised full and inevitable victory over Iran on Friday, calling its leaders “deranged scumbags” and pledging that US strikes would intensify further in the coming days. The promise accompanied a day of warfare that reshaped the Middle East, with US and Israeli aircraft pounding Tehran, Iranian drones and missiles striking Gulf states and Israel, Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel, and Lebanon counting still more dead. The war has grown into one of the most destructive regional conflicts in decades.
The day’s military operations were staggering in scale. Combined US and Israeli forces have now struck more than 15,000 targets since the conflict began, exceeding 1,000 per day. Israel alone confirmed more than 200 individual strikes in the most recent 24 hours, targeting Iranian missile systems, weapons factories, and air defence infrastructure. Trump announced the complete military obliteration of Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export hub, calling it one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East. He warned that oil infrastructure would be next if Iran continued to disrupt the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s campaign of retaliation extended across the entire region. Saudi Arabia intercepted close to 50 Iranian drones in a single day. Qatar ordered Doha evacuations before a missile interception. Two died in Oman in drone crashes. Dubai’s financial district sustained building damage. Iranian Revolutionary Guards launched new coordinated strikes on Israel with Hezbollah as part of al-Quds Day. Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, described by US officials as wounded, disfigured, and hiding underground, issued only a written statement pledging continued resistance.
Lebanon has been devastated by the conflict, with over 600 killed and 800,000 displaced. Eight more died in an Israeli strike on Sidon on Friday. Hezbollah injured close to 60 Israelis in rocket salvoes at northern Israel. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon’s government of escalating costs for Hezbollah’s use of its infrastructure. Israel struck the Zrarieh Bridge over the Litani River. The US lost 13 service members in the conflict, including six in a tanker aircraft crash in Iraq. France lost one soldier to a militia drone in Iraq.
Tehran’s residents described a city that has been fundamentally broken by the bombardment. A retired professor begged the world to intervene before the city was entirely destroyed. A shopkeeper counted six explosions in one hour and described taping newspapers over her windows and barely sleeping through the night as bombs fell. Iran has reported over 1,300 deaths. The Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of global oil and gas flows, remains effectively blockaded by Iranian attacks on shipping. European governments sought diplomatic back-channels with Tehran for safe passage guarantees, while Trump warned of further strikes on Iranian oil infrastructure — a threat that kept the entire world watching with anxiety and dread.
Trump Calls Full Victory Over Iran Inevitable as Bombs, Drones, and Missiles Reshape Middle East
