Donald Trump declared on Friday that US military forces had completely obliterated every military target across Iran’s strategically vital Kharg Island, describing the operation as one of the most powerful bombing raids in the history of the Middle East. The announcement came after a day in which Trump had called Iranian leaders “deranged scumbags” and celebrated their deaths as a personal honor. American and Israeli warplanes had conducted successive waves of strikes on Tehran throughout the day, and the bombing showed no signs of slowing.
Iran’s Kharg Island is the country’s most critical oil export facility, accounting for the vast majority of its petroleum shipments to foreign buyers. Trump’s decision to destroy only its military installations, while sparing the oil infrastructure, was explicitly framed as a conditional reprieve. He warned that if Iran continued to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, he would immediately order the destruction of the island’s oil export capabilities, a move that would have profound consequences for global energy prices.
Life in Tehran has deteriorated dramatically since the war began with the Israeli killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. One city resident, a shopkeeper in her 40s, described taping newspapers over her windows to protect against blast damage, barely sleeping through the night as bombs fell, and counting six separate explosions in one hour. A retired professor described a city of rubble and shaking buildings, with residents trapped by fuel shortages too severe to allow escape.
The war continued to metastasize across the broader Middle East with alarming speed. Qatar joined the growing list of nations struck when explosions were heard in Doha following Iran’s missile attacks, though the defence ministry confirmed a successful interception. Saudi Arabia neutralized nearly 50 incoming Iranian drones. In Lebanon, the ongoing Israeli campaign killed at least eight people in Sidon and has displaced over 800,000 people across the country since the fighting resumed.
The toll on foreign military personnel stationed in the region has also mounted. Six American service members died in a tanker aircraft accident over Iraq, bringing the total US death count to 13. A French soldier was killed in a drone strike in Iraq carried out by a pro-Iranian militia. Despite these losses, US officials showed no willingness to pause the campaign, with Defence Secretary Hegseth vowing that Iran’s desperate and hiding leaders were running out of time and options.