The military’s Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement cited by Iranian media that oil and energy infrastructure belonging to firms that cooperated with the United States would “immediately be destroyed and turned into a pile of ashes” if Iran’s energy facilities were attacked.
The announcement, reported by Iran’s Fars and Tasnim news agencies, was in “response to statements” made by the US president who had earlier said in a social media post that strikes had “obliterated” military targets on Kharg Island.
Trump had also threatened to hit the island’s oil infrastructure if Tehran did not allow passage for ships via the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally pass.
Kharg Island, located around 30 kilometres off the Iranian mainland, handles roughly 90 percent of Iran’s crude exports, according to a recent JP Morgan note.
The war has sparked chaos in global markets and sent oil prices soaring.
Iranian strikes have all but halted maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, leaving investors and governments globally nervous about the risk of dwindling energy supply and higher inflation.
Trump says Iran ‘totally defeated’
US President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran has been “totally defeated” in the US-Israeli military campaign against the country and wanted a deal he would not accept, despite Iranian officials pledging to continue the fight.
“The Fake News Media hates to report how well the United States Military has done against Iran, which is totally defeated and wants a deal – But not a deal that I would accept!” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without elaborating.
Trump’s comments came after he said that Washington had heavily bombed military targets on Iran’s oil hub Kharg Island and the US Navy would soon begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
But as the US strikes on Iran persisted, Tehran launched a new wave of drone and missile attacks on Israel and its Gulf neighbours.
Meanwhile, several top Iranian officials joined a defiant pro-government rally in Tehran on Friday, marching alongside demonstrators waving banners reading “Death to America” and “Death to Israel.”
Iran’s top diplomat said this week that talks remain off the table and attacks would continue for as long as necessary.
“I don’t think talking with the Americans would be on our agenda anymore,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told PBS News this week, adding Tehran had a “very bitter experience” during previous negotiations with the US.
New supreme leader wounded, likely disfigured, Hegseth claims
Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded and likely disfigured, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has said according to Reuters, questioning Khamenei’s ability to govern after nearly two weeks of US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
“We know the new so-called not-so-supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday. A weak one, actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement,” Hegseth told a briefing.
“Iran has plenty of cameras and plenty of voice recorders. Why a written statement? I think you know why. His father — dead. He’s scared, he’s injured, he’s on the run and he lacks legitimacy.”
Baghdad strikes
Explosions rocked Iraq’s capital Baghdad on Saturday after two strikes targeted the powerful Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah, killing two members including a “key figure”, security sources told AFP.
The sources did not identify who was behind the strikes, but since the start of the war, several attacks that targeted Iran-backed fighters across Iraq have been blamed on the US and Israel.
Trump says US to escort tankers ‘very soon’
Trump told reporters Friday that the US Navy would start escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz “very soon” to restore oil exports as he struggles to tackle soaring energy prices.
Iran targets Israel
Iran launched a fresh round of missiles towards Israel, state media reported just after midnight on Saturday in Tehran, but Israeli rescue workers said there were no reported casualties following the strikes.
Israel’s military said it had identified missiles from Iran and “was operating to intercept the threat,” as air raid sirens in multiple areas sent people into shelters.
Lebanon says health centre hit
An Israeli strike on a healthcare centre in southern Lebanon killed 12 medical personnel, the Lebanese health ministry said.
The ministry said the attack was “the second against the health sector in a few hours”, following a strike on Sawaneh that killed two paramedics affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally Amal.
Israeli strikes have killed at least 773 people in Lebanon since March 2, according to the health ministry.
Hezbollah defiant
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said his group was ready for a long confrontation with Israel, as the latter threatened to make Lebanon pay an “increasing price” in damage to infrastructure.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when the Tehran-backed militant group attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Israeli strikes continued Friday, including an attack that killed eight people in a south Lebanese village near the port city of Sidon, according to the health ministry.
US bulking up military presence
The United States appears to be reinforcing its Middle East deployment by sending an amphibious assault ship and Marines to the region, The Wall Street Journal reported.
CNN reported that the deployment includes an Expeditionary Unit, which are typically made up of 2,500 Marines and sailors.
Oil stays above $100
Oil prices stayed over $100 a barrel Friday while stock markets slid as investors worry about an extended crisis that could fan inflation and hammer the global economy.
The price of Brent crude, the international crude benchmark contract, closed at $103.14 a barrel, having soared by more than 42 percent since the start of the conflict.
US offers $10m reward for Iran leader info
The US State Department offered a $10-million reward for information about Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei and other top officials.
F1 races cancelled
Formula One races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia will be cancelled or rescheduled as war engulfs the region, a source with knowledge of the matter told AFP.
The Bahrain race is currently scheduled for April 10 to 12, and Saudi Arabia a week later.
Israel has carried out 7,600 strikes on Iran
Israel’s military said it had carried out around 7,600 strikes across Iran and 1,100 in Lebanon since launching its joint operation with the United States.
Israel hit
Smoke could be seen rising from two locations around Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv, an AFP journalist saw, after blasts were heard following a warning that missiles were fired from Iran.
Qatar intercepts two missiles
Qatar said on Saturday it intercepted two missiles, after blasts were heard in the capital Doha and authorities said they had evacuated some key areas.
Interceptors were seen downing two projectiles over the Qatari capital’s downtown area and blasts were heard, according to AFP journalists, as Iran presses on with its retaliatory air campaign against Gulf states.
The country’s defence ministry said in two separate posts on Saturday that its military had “intercepted” a missile attack targeting the country.
Earlier, the interior ministry said in a statement it was “evacuating several key areas as a temporary precautionary measure, within the framework of ensuring public safety until the danger has passed”.
In Doha’s central Musheireb district some residents received phone alerts telling them to “evacuate the area immediately… to the nearest safest place as a temporary precaution”.
Scores of residents and some hotel guests in Musheireb rushed into underground car parks for shelter, an AFP journalist witnessed.
Law enforcement were out on the streets and some areas were cordoned off in Musheireb, which hosts a country office for US tech giant Google and the US payments firm American Express.
Drone hits US embassy in Baghdad
A drone struck the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, an Iraqi security official said, as an AFP journalist saw smoke rising from the complex.
“A drone hit the embassy,” the official said, with a second security source confirming that an attack had targeted the diplomatic mission.
The attack took place shortly after two Iran-backed fighters were killed in strikes on Iraq’s capital, according to several sources.
