DUBAI: Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut and Tehran on Friday as Iran launched another wave of retaliatory strikes against Israel and Gulf countries. There was no sign of the war letting up on its seventh day, as US President Donald Trump appeared to rule out negotiations with Iran and called for its “unconditional surrender.”
Trump demanded Iran’s “unconditional surrender” as the only acceptable outcome to end hostilities, while promising to help rebuild the country’s economy if Tehran compiled and installed new leadership.
“There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The post came as Israel bombarded regime targets in Tehran and Hezbollah positions in Beirut, and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said US strikes against Iran were “about to surge dramatically.”
Trump said that following any capitulation by the Islamic Republic, the United States and its allies would work to bring Iran “back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before.”
He closed with a new slogan — “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!)” — a riff on his “Make America Great Again” political brand.
Israeli fighter jets carried out a major strike in the heart of Tehran early on Friday, targeting an underground bunker built beneath the leadership compound of Iran’s supreme leader.
The Israeli Air Force said approximately 50 jets took part in the operation, guided by precise intelligence from Israel’s Military Intelligence and coordinated with Mossad. The target was the underground bunker constructed for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Israeli military described the bunker as serving as “a secure emergency asset” intended for Khamenei to manage fighting during a conflict. It was never used by Khamenei because he had already been eliminated in earlier strikes during Operation “Roaring Lion”. After his death, the compound continued to be used by other senior officials of the Iranian regime.
The war has escalated to affect more than a dozen countries across the Middle East and beyond. The US said it had struck an Iranian drone carrier at sea as it waged an unrelenting campaign against the country’s navy that earlier included torpedoing of a warship in the Indian Ocean.
The US and Israel have battered Iran with strikes, targeting their military capabilities, leadership and nuclear program. The stated goals and timelines for the war have repeatedly shifted, as the US has at times suggested it seeks to topple Iran’s government or elevate new leadership from within.
The war has already caused a spike in oil prices, and Qatar’s energy minister warned that it could “bring down the economies of the world,” predicting a widespread shutdown of Gulf energy exports that could send oil to $150 a barrel.
Iran meanwhile launched missile and drone attacks at Israel, as well as Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, all countries that host US forces. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The war has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 120 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. Six US troops have been killed.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said Friday that “some countries” had begun mediation efforts in the conflict, without elaborating.
The US military said early Friday that it struck an Iranian drone carrier, setting it ablaze. The US military’s Central Command released black-and-white footage of the burning carrier. The Iranian military did not immediately acknowledge the attack.
The drone carrier, the IRIS Shahid Bagheri, is a converted container ship with a 180-meter-long (yard) runway for drones. The vessel can travel up to 22,000 nautical miles without needing to refuel in ports, reports said at the time of its 2025 inauguration.
Earlier in the week, an American submarine sank an Iranian frigate off the coast of Sri Lanka as it was returning from an exercise hosted by the Indian navy that the US also joined. Sri Lanka’s navy rescued 32 crew members and recovered 87 bodies.
Qatar said it intercepted a drone attack targeting Al Udeid Air Base, which hosts the forward headquarters of the US Central Command.
Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, where the Interior Ministry said Iranian strikes targeted two hotels and a residential building. It said there were no casualties. In Kuwait, where the six US soldiers were killed Sunday, the army said air defenses were activated when missile and drone attacks breached its airspace.
In Israel, the sound of explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv early Friday morning after a warning about missiles incoming from Iran, as air defense systems worked to intercept the barrage.
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Kuwait shut down after retaliatory Iranian strikes on the country, becoming the second American diplomatic mission to fully halt work as the war in Iran escalates. Kuwait is also where six American soldiers were killed by an Iranian drone on Sunday.