Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is “wounded and likely disfigured” after Khamenei — who has not been seen in public since the war began — vowed in his first statement to avenge the “blood of martyrs.”
The Pentagon confirmed that all six crew members aboard a refueling U.S. military aircraft that crashed in western Iraq on Thursday have been found dead. The U.S. Central Command said that while an investigation is ongoing, the incident “was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
President Trump said in a social media post overnight that the U.S. is decimating Iran’s leadership and its “terrorist regime,” adding: “Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.”
A large explosion struck in Iran’s capital of Tehran in a crowded square, where thousands of people had taken to the streets for an annual state-organized rally to support Palestinians, chanting “Death to Israel.”
Meanwhile, the overall death toll from the war continues to rise. At least 1,300 people have been killed in Iran since the U.S.-Israeli strikes began on Feb. 28. More than 680 people in Lebanon have been killed and at least 15 in Israel, according to officials in those countries.
Seven U.S. service members have died in Iranian counterstrikes. The Pentagon said 140 U.S. service members have been wounded in the ongoing conflict, including eight who were “severely injured.”
Live215 updates