President Donald Trump cast the American military campaign against Iran in sweeping historical terms on Friday, calling it a reckoning for nearly five decades of violence by the Iranian regime. He described Iran’s leaders as “deranged scumbags” and promised dramatically harder strikes in the coming days, even as US and Israeli warplanes were already conducting intensive bombing operations over Tehran. Trump framed his role in the campaign as that of a historical figure delivering long-overdue justice.
Saudi Arabia mounted one of its most extensive single-day defensive operations in years, intercepting close to 50 Iranian drones fired in multiple successive waves. The scale of the Saudi defensive effort highlighted the intensity of Iran’s campaign against its Gulf neighbors. In Oman, two people died when drones crashed in an industrial area near Sohar. Dubai’s International Financial Centre sustained damage when debris from an intercepted Iranian strike struck a building in the elite banking and finance hub. Qatar issued evacuation orders for parts of Doha before explosions and a confirmed interception.
The military pressure on Iran itself was immense. US and Israeli forces have combined for over 15,000 target strikes since the war began, with Israel reporting more than 200 in the latest 24-hour window. Late Friday, Trump announced that Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil terminal, had been completely cleared of military installations by US Central Command in what he called the most powerful bombing raid in the history of the Middle East. Iran’s response has been to escalate strikes on Israel and Gulf states simultaneously.
Tehran residents described living through a hellish experience of constant explosions, power cuts, rubble, and fuel shortages. One shopkeeper counted six explosions in one hour. A retired professor begged the international community to intervene before the city was entirely destroyed. Iranian authorities say over 1,300 of their citizens have been killed since the war began with the Israeli strike that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was described by US officials as wounded and hiding underground.
The war’s human and economic toll extended well beyond the immediate battlefield. Lebanon reported over 600 killed and 800,000 displaced, with Israeli strikes killing at least eight in Sidon on Friday. Hezbollah launched rockets into northern Israel, injuring close to 60. The United States has lost 13 service members, including six in a tanker aircraft crash in Iraq. France lost a soldier to a militia drone strike in the same country. Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of global energy supplies pass, prompted European governments to quietly seek diplomatic solutions while Trump threatened further escalation.
Trump Calls War on Iran a Historic Reckoning as Saudi Arabia Intercepts 50 Drones in One Day
