President Donald Trump invoked the symbolic weight of being the 47th president of the United States on Friday to justify the military campaign against Iran, posting on social media that Iranian leaders had been killing innocents for 47 years and that it was now his presidential duty to kill them. He called Iran’s leaders “deranged scumbags” in the same post, framing the entire campaign in terms of personal destiny and historical symmetry. The comments came amid one of the most intense days of bombing since the war began.
The conflict, triggered by Israel’s killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has consumed the Middle East in a cascade of escalating violence. US and Israeli aircraft have combined to strike over 15,000 targets, with Israel alone reporting more than 200 strikes in the most recent 24 hours. Trump announced late Friday that US Central Command had destroyed every military installation on Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil terminal, calling it the most powerful bombing raid in the region’s history. He warned that the island’s oil infrastructure would be the next target if Iran continued to disrupt Strait of Hormuz shipping.
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, described by US officials as wounded and hiding underground, issued a defiant written statement Thursday pledging continued resistance. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed the statement as weak and pointed to the absence of any voice or video as proof of physical injury. He described Iranian leaders collectively as “desperate and hiding,” having gone underground to escape the campaign. Iranian state media showed other senior officials attending demonstrations and walking in Tehran’s streets.
Across the region, the violence continued to expand. Lebanon has recorded over 600 deaths and 800,000 displaced. Eight more died in Sidon in an Israeli strike Friday. Hezbollah injured about 60 in rocket salvoes at northern Israel. Saudi Arabia intercepted close to 50 Iranian drones. Qatar issued Doha evacuation orders before a missile interception. Two died in Oman in drone crashes. Dubai’s financial district sustained damage. Iranian Revolutionary Guards launched new coordinated strikes on Israel in the name of al-Quds Day.
Tehran residents described a city of constant explosions, power cuts, rubble, and trapped civilians. A retired professor begged the world to intervene. A shopkeeper counted six explosions in one hour. Iran has reported over 1,300 deaths. The United States has lost 13 service members, including six in a tanker aircraft crash in Iraq. France lost one soldier to a militia drone in Iraq. European governments quietly sought diplomatic back-channels with Tehran to secure Strait of Hormuz passage for commercial ships, even as Trump threatened to make the conflict even more destructive.