President Donald Trump on Friday threatened sweeping retaliation against Iran as the conflict in the Middle East intensified, writing on social media that Tehran's military forces were being "decimated" and warning, "Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today."
"We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise," Trump wrote in an early morning post on Truth Social. "Iran's Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth.
"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 added. "What a great honor it is to do so!"
Iranian security official Ali Larijani dismissed Trump's threats, telling Iranian media during the Quds Day demonstrations that the suspected Israeli strike in Tehran was "a sign of its desperation."
Larijani also said Trump failed to understand that "the more pressure he puts on the people, the greater their willpower will be."
The remarks came as Iran launched a new wave of attacks across the Gulf region early Friday, including dozens of drones targeting Saudi Arabia, and as fighting expanded across several countries tied to the widening war.
Saudi Arabia said it shot down nearly 50 Iranian drones sent in multiple waves, while sirens sounded in Bahrain warning of incoming fire.
In Dubai, black smoke rose from an industrial area after authorities said debris from a missile interception sparked a blaze. A building in the Dubai International Financial Center was also damaged by falling debris from what officials described as a successful interception.
In Oman, two people were killed when drones crashed in an industrial area in the Sohar region, according to the Oman News Agency.
The attacks followed warnings from Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who urged Gulf Arab nations to shut down American military bases and vowed retaliation for Iranians killed in the conflict.
Khamenei said the idea that the United States could protect regional governments was "nothing more than a lie" and pledged Iran would "not refrain from avenging the blood" of those killed.
The war also spilled into Turkey, where NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Iran early Friday.
Residents in the southern city of Adana reported hearing a loud explosion and sirens at Incirlik Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces. Turkey's Defense Ministry said NATO air defenses destroyed the missile in the eastern Mediterranean.
Inside Iran, a large explosion rocked Tehran's Ferdowsi Square during Quds Day demonstrations in support of Palestinians.
Iranian state television reported the blast but said the cause was not immediately known. Israel had earlier warned civilians to clear the area because it planned a strike there.
Despite the warning and the ongoing conflict, thousands of people gathered in Tehran for the annual demonstrations, chanting "death to Israel" and "death to America" as smoke rose from the square.
Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed in the country since the war began. Israel has reported 12 deaths, while the United States has lost at least 11 soldiers and reported eight others severely wounded.
The Israeli military said it launched a new wave of strikes across Iran, hitting more than 200 targets over the past 24 hours, including missile launchers, air defense systems, and weapons production sites.
Fighting also intensified along Israel's northern front. Nearly 60 people were wounded in northern Israel after the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah fired several rocket barrages toward the area and at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. Most of the injuries were described as minor.
In Lebanon, Israeli strikes killed at least one person in southwestern Beirut and wounded a local official with the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in eastern Lebanon, killing his two sons, according to Lebanese state media.
Lebanon's Health Ministry says more than 600 people have been killed in the country since the fighting began, while the U.N. refugee agency estimates nearly 800,000 people have been displaced.
Oil markets also reacted to the escalating conflict. Brent crude, the international benchmark, remained above $100 per barrel after surging as high as about $120. Prices are roughly 40% higher than when Israel and the United States launched strikes on Iran on Feb. 28, triggering the war.
Iran has continued to threaten shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which about one-fifth of the world's oil supply passes.
Meanwhile, U.S. Central Command said four of the six crew members aboard an American KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in Iraq had been found dead, with recovery efforts continuing for the remaining two. The military said the crash was not caused by hostile or friendly fire.
The aircraft was the fourth publicly acknowledged U.S. plane to crash during operations related to the conflict. Last week, three American fighter jets were accidentally shot down by friendly Kuwaiti fire.
Elsewhere in Iraq's northern Kurdish region, French President Emmanuel Macron said a French soldier was killed in an attack targeting Erbil. France previously said six of its troops were wounded in a drone strike there.
U.K. officials said several U.S. personnel also suffered minor injuries earlier this week when drones struck a base in Erbil that houses both British and American forces.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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