US President, Donald Trump has, in a post on social media, threatened major new retaliation on Iran.
The comments came the day after Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to “not refrain from avenging the blood” of Iranians killed, and warned Gulf Arab nations to shut US bases, saying that the notion of American protection was “nothing more than a lie.”
“Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today. 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.”
Donald Trump
In his post, Trump asserted, “we are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise.”
“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. What a great honor it is to do so!”
Donald Trump
The US military said that American forces have now struck more than 6,000 targets since the operation against Iran began, including more than 30 minelaying vessels.
Iran launched multiple attacks early today on Gulf Arab states, including dozens of drones at Saudi Arabia.
Intense airstrikes also hit early today around Iran’s capital, Tehran, as well as outlying areas.
Iran has been attacking ships that try to transit the strait of Hormuz, and Khamenei’s comments, his first to the public since being named to replace his father, who was killed during the first day of the conflict, said that Iran would continue to block the waterway.
Iran has been attacking oil and other infrastructure around the Gulf region, and Saudi Arabia disclosed that it had downed nearly 50 drones sent in multiple waves throughout the early morning hours.
Sirens also sounded in Bahrain warning of incoming fire from Dubai, and black smoke billowed from an industrial area after authorities said debris from an interception had sparked a blaze.
Nearly 60 people were wounded in northern Israel after Hezbollah said that it had fired several rocket salvoes toward the area and at Israeli troops in southern Lebanon.
Almost all the injuries were described as very minor. One person was killin southwestern Beirut in an Israeli strike, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry, and another attack hit an apartment in the capital, leaving it engulfed in flames.
Following the attacks, the Israeli army said it had been targeting a member of Iran-linked Hezbollah. More than 600 people have been killed in Lebanon since the fighting began, the Health Ministry has reported and nearly 800,000 have been internally displaced, according to the UN refugee agency.
Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed there, and Israel has reported 12 deaths. The US has lost at least seven soldiers while another eight have suffered severe injuries.
French Soldier Killed In Iraq
On Friday, French President, Emmanuel Macron said that a French soldier was killed in an attack targeting Irbil in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region.
France earlier said that six soldiers had been hurt in a drone strike in Irbil, where French troops are deployed as part of a multinational counterterrorism mission supporting Iraqi forces in their fight against Islamic State militants.
In the same region, British officials said several US personnel suffered minor injuries on Wednesday when drone strikes hit a base in Irbil that houses both British and American troops.
Italy said that a base where it has troops in Irbil was also hit on Wednesday but that there were no injuries. The Italian contingent in the region trains local Kurdish troops at the request of the Iraqi government.
Meanwhile, recovery efforts were underway in western Iraq today after the American KC-135 refueling aircraft crashed.
It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties, but the aircraft had five crew on board.
US Central Command said the crash was not related to friendly or hostile fire, and that two aircraft were involved, including one that landed safely.
However, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for shooting down the plane, announcing that it shot down a US Army KC-135 aircraft in western Iraq “with the appropriate weapon.”
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