President Donald Trump rejected the idea of an immediate diplomatic off-ramp to the war in Iran on Friday, saying there would be “no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!” hours after Iran’s president raised the prospect of mediation efforts.
“After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian earlier Friday said some countries had begun mediation efforts, without elaborating on which ones. “Let’s be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region yet we have no hesitation in defending our nation’s dignity & sovereignty,” he said in a post on X. “Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict.”
A day earlier, Trump said Iranian leaders had been seeking an agreement to end the war and he should have a say in choosing Iran’s next leader. “They’re calling, they’re saying, ‘How do we make a deal?’” Trump said Thursday. “You’re being a little bit late,” Trump said. “We want to fight now more than they do.”
On Day 7 of the war now spanning multiple fronts across the Middle East, Israel and Iran traded attacks and Russia is providing Iran with information to attack American forces — the first indication that another major U.S. adversary is participating in the conflict, even indirectly. Here’s what to know about the war in the Middle East.
Israel launches new strike on Tehran bunker of slain leader Khamenei
An Israeli operation involving 50 air force jets destroyed the sprawling underground bunker of Iran’s slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Israel Defense Forces said Friday. Khamenei was killed before he could use his bunker but it was used by senior Iranian regime officials, Israel said in a statement.
Previously published satellite images show multiple buildings across Khamenei’s compound were destroyed after the U.S. and Israel launched joint airstrikes against the country last Saturday. Iranian authorities did not immediately comment on the latest strikes.
Israeli officials said Friday they also had struck more than 400 targets elsewhere in Iran, including ballistic missile launchers and drone-storage facilities.
Fighting between Israel, Hezbollah intensifies in Lebanon
The regional conflict that began last week after the U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran has reignited the long-running fight between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite Muslim militant group and political party in Lebanon. As Israel bombards Beirut and the Israel Defense Forces move into new positions in Southern Lebanon, the country has become a focal point of the broader conflict.
Israel on Friday said it launched strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, hitting several Hezbollah command centers, and issued additional evacuation warnings for four towns in the country’s east. Much of southern Lebanon, areas in the east and Beirut’s southern suburbs are already on evacuation notice after Israel told residents to flee. The Lebanese government said it would open public schools and universities to house displaced people.
So far, fighting between Israel and Hezbollah showed no sign of fading, despite a French ceasefire initiative announced by French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday. Israeli strikes have killed at least 217 people and injured about 800 so far, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Another five people were killed Friday in Israeli strikes on an office building in the southern city of Sidon, authorities said. The building included a Red Cross office, but none of its employees were injured, the nonprofit said.
Some 110,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced, according to the latest official tally — probably an undercount given the territory under Israel’s evacuation directives. The Norwegian Refugee Council estimates about 300,000 have been displaced. On Friday, the effects of the displacement could be felt across Beirut as mopeds littered sidewalks, trash piled up in dumpsters and traffic came to a standstill. In Beirut’s upscale central district, hundreds of displaced people camped out in parking lots. The government has said it would retrofit several stadiums to increase shelter capacity. “People are still sleeping on the streets” Moustafa Hijazi, mayor of the Southern port city of Sidon, said in a statement, adding that the city’s shelters are at capacity.
Iranian attacks spread to 12 countries
Iran has attacked 12 countries and “continues to deliberately target civilians throughout the Middle East,” according to Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of U.S. Central Command, which oversees operations in the Middle East.
United Arab Emirates officials said the country was targeted by 112 drones Friday. Air defense systems intercepted 109 of them, while three “fell within the country’s territory,” according to the UAE Defense Ministry.
In Saudi Arabia, air defenses destroyed at least one cruise missile east of Al-Kharj early Friday. Saudi forces also intercepted at least three drones east of Riyadh, downed another drone in the Eastern Province, and destroyed three ballistic missiles launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base. Parts of the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh are “unrecoverable” and must be sealed off after being struck in a suspected Iranian drone attack earlier this week, according to an internal State Department assessment reviewed by The Washington Post.
Officials in Bahrain said its forces had destroyed 78 missiles and 143 drones targeting the kingdom “since the start of the treacherous aggression,” according to a statement from the General Command of the Bahrain Defense Force.
Qatar’s Emiri Air Defense Forces also intercepted a drone targeting al-Udeid Air Base, the Defense Ministry said. In all, Qatari officials said its forces have intercepted nine drones, while one drone struck an uninhabited area, without causing any casualties.
Kuwait’s armed forces said they intercepted several attacks, including a missile that penetrated the country’s airspace. Shrapnel from the interception caused material damage but no injuries or casualties, according to the army.
U.S. evacuation efforts underway
The State Department is continuing its efforts to charter flights to evacuate U.S. citizens from the Middle East, amid criticism it did not provide enough advance warning before strikes on Iran began. Nearly 24,000 American citizens have returned to the United States from the Middle East since Feb. 28, a figure that does not include those who relocated to other countries or who are in transit, State Department spokesman Dylan Johnson said Friday.
Some evacuating Americans arrived Friday in Washington on a plane emblazoned with the New England Patriots logo — although the State Department paid for the flight and the NFL team was not involved, according to the State Department.
A senior State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing plans, said that they expect a significant increase in the numbers of charter flights in the coming days.
The official said that between 30 and 40 percent of U.S. citizens were declining the options presented to them by the State Department and that there were empty seats on flights that had left. This was partly due to practical issues like timing, but also because “commercial options are broadly available in the region and increasing in most of the region,” the senior official said.
The State Department is urging U.S. citizens in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Israel in need of travel assistance to complete a crisis-intake form.
What else to know
- Iran denied targeting the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, according to semiofficial news agency Mehr. A suspected Iranian drone hit the CIA’s station at the embassy in Riyadh on Monday. An internal State Department alert obtained by The Washington Post said the drone attack “collapsed” part of the embassy’s roof and “contaminated” the inside with smoke.
- Australian personnel were on board the U.S. submarine that sank an Iranian frigate this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed. Albanese said the Australian personnel were on board for training but did not participate in any offensive action against Iran.
- The son of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was among eight IDF troops wounded in a Hezbollah rocket attack near Lebanon, Smotrich’s office said Friday. The Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya, Israel, confirmed that Bnaya Smotrich was lightly injured and is being treated there. Bezalel Smotrich, a hard-line member of Netanyahu’s coalition, had threatened on Thursday to destroy Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut where Hezbollah is influential. “You wanted to bring hell upon us, but you brought hell upon yourselves. Dahiyeh will look like Khan Younis,” he said then, referring to a city in the Gaza Strip decimated by Israeli bombardment.
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