Iran kept firing missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab nation on Friday, including a strike at a military base in Saudi Arabia that U.S. officials said wounded at least 10 U.S. service members, two of them seriously.
The attack on Prince Sultan Air Base also damaged several U.S. refueling aircraft, said two U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. One of the officials said two of the troops were seriously
wounded.
Israel, meanwhile, warned Friday it will expand its attacks on Iran, while the U.S. military also continued striking Iran. President Donald Trump delayed his threat to obliterate Iran’s energy plants over its effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Facing a convulsing stock market, Trump on Thursday extended a deadline for reopening the waterway until April 6, saying Iran asked for the grace period and that talks were going “very well,” despite Iran continuing to publicly insist it is not negotiating with the White House on a 15-point proposal to end the conflict.
Here is the latest:
The president made the comment when he was asked what he would like his legacy to be. He responded by saying that “it doesn’t sound right for me to say this, but I’d love my legacy to be made as a great peacemaker.”
He added: “I really believe I’m a peacemaker. It doesn’t seem it right now, but I think I’m a peacemaker.”
At least 10 American service members were wounded in the attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the situation.
Two of the troops were seriously wounded, one of the officials said. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters. — By Konstantin Toropin
The president said in his speech at the FII Priority Summit in Miami that economic growth would surge once the war ends, suggesting that the world would benefit from Iran no longer pursuing nuclear weapons or using terrorist proxies.
“And I think you’re going to see a rocket ship, because we won’t have that dark cloud hanging over our head,” Trump said.
The president played down recent declines in the stock market, saying “It hasn’t been that bad” and that he thought oil prices were going to be higher than they are now.
That’s according to a U.S. official familiar with the situation.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters, said Friday’s attack on Prince Sultan Air Base involved an Iranian missile and unmanned drones. The strike damaged several U.S. refueling aircraft on the base. It’s not clear how many troops were wounded or how severely.
The confirmation, reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal, comes after satellite imagery that appeared to show the damage to the aircraft appeared online.
Army Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, died days after being wounded during a March 1 attack on the base.
U.S. Central Command said earlier Friday that more than 300 service members were wounded in the conflict.
— By Konstantin Toropin
Trump has been pressing Israel and Saudi Arabia, the two biggest powers in the Middle East, for years to normalize ties as part of his Abraham Accords efforts.
“It’s now time,” Trump said at a Miami event sponsored by a Saudi sovereign wealth fund. “We’ve now taken them out, and they are out bigly. We got to get into the Abraham Accords.”
Significant headwinds remain, including Saudi Arabia’s insistence that there needs to be a credible path to a Palestinian state before it normalizes commercial and diplomatic ties with Israel.
At the start of remarks on Friday evening at a Miami event sponsored by the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund, Trump assured the audience that the U.S. military is achieving it’s military objectives in its four-week old war against Iran.
He also jokingly referred to the Strait of Hormuz by another name.
“They have to open up the Strait of Trump. I mean, Hormuz,” Trump said. He added sarcastically, “Excuse me ... I’m so sorry — such a terrible mistake.”
“The fake news will say he accidentally said” Strait of Trump), he added. “No, there’s no accidents with me. Not too many.”
The man in his 60s was pronounced dead late Friday, after suffering severe injuries, emergency services said.
Israel’s medical service, Magen David Adom, said two other people were mildly to moderately wounded in another area in central Israel, and taken by ambulance to hospitals.
An Associated Press journalist reported numerous ambulances in Tel Aviv and loud explosions.
Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service said it was responding to 11 different impact sites across the Tel Aviv metro area.
Witnesses are reporting a partial power outage in eastern Tehran following the airstrikes.
Russia said its condemnation was made at a closed Security Council meeting, where Moscow opposed attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure.
A statement from Russia’s U.N. Mission after the meeting singled out the attack on an elementary school in Iran that killed more than 165 people.
Russia’s condemnation of such attacks never mentioned Moscow’s attacks on civilian infrastructure during the war in Ukraine including on schools, apartment buildings, hospitals and the energy grid.
In the statement, Russia urged council members to focus on de-escalation, a cessation of hostilities, and “a political and diplomatic settlement” to the war. It also warned of the threats to nuclear safety.
During the meeting, the United States told the council it takes international humanitarian law very seriously and exercises precautions when it comes to civilians, a U.N. diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the meeting was private.
— By Edith M. Lederer
The agency said on X that the production plant at Khondab hit earlier Friday contains no declared nuclear material.
Earlier, the IAEA said it was looking into damage on Iran’s yellowcake production facility that was hit, but that no off-site radiation levels had been reported.
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree said the Iran-backed group could join the war if U.S. and Israeli allies enter the conflict, if the Red Sea is used for hostile operations by the U.S. and Israel against Iran or other Muslim countries, and if the escalation against Iran and its allies continues.
“We affirm that our fingers are on the trigger for direct military intervention,” Saree said Friday during a video statement in a first appearance since the Iran war began.
Since the war began nearly a month ago, Houthis maintained their support for Iran through statements and protests, despite playing an active role in the Israel-Hamas war when they upended shipping in the Red Sea, through which about $1 trillion worth of goods passed each year before the war.
U.S. and Iraq officials decided during a coordination meeting Thursday to “intensify cooperation” as the weekslong war in the Middle East has spiraled and left collateral damage on nearly every country in the region.
In a post on X, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad said the two sides agreed to work together to prevent terrorist attacks and to “ensure that Iraqi territory is not used as a launching point for any aggression” against the country, its assets as well as U.S. personnel and global partners.
The announcement came after Iran-linked Iraqi militias — some of them at least nominally affiliated with the Iraqi security forces — have launched dozens of attacks on U.S. bases and facilities in Iraq since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.
U.S. strikes have targeted militia bases. On Wednesday, a strike hit a military clinic in Iraq’s western Anbar province, killing seven soldiers and wounding 23. The U.S. denied involvement in the strike.
In the space of less than half an hour late Friday, Israel’s military said Iran had launched missiles twice at the country.
The first launch targeted the area around Beer Sheba, while the second made sirens go off in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and parts of the occupied West Bank.
Sirens alerted people to seek shelter in and around the city of Beer Sheba and areas near Israel’s main nuclear research center, which where targeted by Iranian strikes that injured dozens last weekend.
Shortly after, loud booms were heard over Jerusalem.
In the West Bank, sirens could be heard while AP footage captured what seemed to be a cluster munition missile that was seen in the sky over the occupied territory following the alert by the Israeli army of an incoming attack from Iran.
U.S. stocks closed out their worst week since the Iran war began and their fifth losing week in a row. The S&P 500 fell 1.6% and is now 8.7% below the all-time high it reached in January.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1.7%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.1%. Crude oil prices rose again with no clear end in sight for the conflict.
Investors fear that the war will disrupt the Persian Gulf’s energy industry for a long time, setting off a punishing wave of global inflation by keeping large amounts of oil and natural gas out of global markets.
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Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan announced Friday night that he will be meeting with his Egyptian, Saudi and Pakistani counterparts in Pakistan over the weekend regarding the war in Iran.
Fidan was asked about Turkey’s role in the war during an interview with private news channel A Haber, where he said telephone diplomacy was ongoing and that they were currently in the middle of a “difficult and painful” process.
He also added that Turkey was working to prevent the escalation of mistrust between Iran and its Gulf neighbors, who are under attack by Tehran.
“That’s exactly the scenario Israel wants, for the Muslim countries engaging in a long-term regional war,” Fidan said.
Cargo volumes have fallen by roughly 50% since the war began at Umm Qasr, Iraq’s primary deep-water sea port, according to local port officials.
Port director Mohammed Taher Fadhil said Friday traditional shipping routes are no longer viable and that with direct access blocked via the Strait of Hormuz, shipping companies are resorting to costly and time-consuming alternatives.
Large mother ships are now rerouted to Khor Fakkan Port, located along the Gulf of Oman. From there, cargo is offloaded and transported overland by truck to Sharjah before being reloaded onto smaller vessels bound for Umm Qasr.
This multi-step process has significantly increased both delivery times and transportation costs, he said.
As U.S. gas prices approach $4 a gallon amid the conflict in Iran, members of Congress are pushing to suspend the federal gasoline tax.
Lawmakers say the action would provide much-needed relief for families and businesses that rely on their cars and trucks to get around. President Donald Trump said he has “thought about” suspending it but suggested states should look at suspending their taxes on fuel.
The federal gas tax, currently set at 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel fuel, provides more than $23 billion per year in revenue for federal highway and public transit programs.
Trump cannot suspend the federal tax on his own. Congress would have to approve the move.
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The IAEA is looking into the damage caused by a strike on Iran’s Shahid Rezayee Nejad Yellow Cake Production Facility in Yazd province. The agency said on X that no increase in off-site radiation levels has been reported.
Earlier on Friday, the U.S. and Israel launched multiple attacks on industrial and nuclear sites in Iran just hours after Israel threatened to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he will meet with his Egyptian, Saudi and Pakistani counterparts in Pakistan over the weekend regarding the Iran war.
Speaking to private news channel A Haber Friday night, Fidan said telephone diplomacy was ongoing and that they were currently in a “difficult and painful” process.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Friday that Israel struck two of his country’s largest steel factories, a power plant and nuclear sites, among other infrastructure that were hit earlier in the day.
“Israel claims it acted in coordination with the U.S. Attack contradicts POTUS extended deadline for diplomacy. Iran will exact HEAVY price for Israeli crimes,” he wrote on X.
The U.S. and Israel launched multiple attacks on industrial and nuclear sites in Iran just hours after Israel threatened to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said that the strikes posed no risk of contamination, according to state media. Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned about retaliatory operations and urged workers at industrial companies in the region with U.S. shareholders to leave their workplaces immediately.
Iran has banned its sports teams from traveling to countries it considers “hostile,” Iranian state TV reported Thursday ahead of Tractor FC’s scheduled soccer game in Saudi Arabia.
The ban announced by Iran’s Ministry of Sports in Tehran didn’t mention the World Cup which starts June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
The ministry’s statement singled out the Tractor game against Shabab Al Ahli of Dubai that was set to be played in Saudi Arabia. It’s a playoff game in the Asian Champions League Elite.
“The presence of national and club teams in countries that are considered hostile and are unable to ensure the security of Iranian athletes and team members is prohibited until further notice,” it said.
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Ali Bahreini, the Iranian ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, said Friday that Tehran has accepted a request from the world body to allow the safe passage of critical humanitarian aid and agriculture shipments through the critical waterway.
“This measure reflects Iran’s continued commitment to supporting humanitarian efforts and ensuring that essential aid reaches those in need without delay,” Bahreini said in a post on X.
The statement comes hours after the U.N. announced a task force to address the ripple effects the Iran war has had on crucial aid getting through.
Russia is sending a shipment of drones to Iran including upgraded versions of the drone technology that Tehran originally supplied to Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine, U.S. and European officials told The Associated Press.
Iran has been firing drone barrages at Israel, its Gulf neighbors and U.S. bases across the Middle East for more than a month following the U.S. and Israeli attack on the country. While Iran has its own stocks of Shahed drones, Russia has made improvements to the design during the war in Ukraine, including adding better navigation capabilities.
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One month into their war with Iran, the United States and Israel find themselves confronting an opponent that fights more like an insurgency than a nation — using increasingly limited resources to inflict maximum pain.
Despite being battered daily by airstrikes from two of the world’s most sophisticated militaries, Iran has shown it can still torment its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel with missiles and drones and maintain a stranglehold on the world’s economy, primarily through threats.
Tehran’s ability to control the flow of traffic — and therefore the flow of oil — through the Strait of Hormuz is its biggest strategic advantage. And, in fact, it’s a tactic that Iran’s very own proxies have adopted for years under decades of its tutelage as the leader of the self-described “Axis of Resistance.”
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Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has been in contact with Iran’s foreign minister and the U.S. ambassador about his new task force to enable food, fertilizer and humanitarian aid to get through the Strait of Hormuz unhindered, the U.N. said.
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Guterres has also spoken to the foreign ministers of Egypt and Pakistan and Bahrain’s U.N. ambassador — but not yet to an official from Israel.
He called Iran’s support for the initiative “pretty critical,” and said the secretary-general plans to speak to Iran’s U.N. ambassador later Friday and will be making more calls.
Dujarric said the U.N. has a lot of past experience in verifying cargo and inspections in conflict zones — in the Black Sea earlier in the Ukraine war, in Yemen and in Gaza.
“We hope that all member states involved will support this” initiative, Dujarric said, stressing that the focus is strictly on meeting humanitarian needs and getting fertilizer to farmers and food to millions of people impacted by the Iran war — not on oil shipments.
