United States President Donald Trump has thrown his support behind Iranian Kurdish forces based in Iraq, urging them to mount offensives against Tehran as the widening Middle East conflict drew in new fronts. Azerbaijan declared it would strike back after Iranian missiles crossed into its territory, while Israel announced on Friday that it had launched a "broad-scale" assault on infrastructure targets in the Iranian capital. Gulf cities were simultaneously subjected to fresh waves of Iranian bombardment.
Tehran carried out an overnight drone strike on the Al Udied airbase in Qatar — the largest American military installation in the region — though Qatari officials confirmed no casualties were reported. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps stated its forces had struck the Ramat David airbase and a radar installation in Israel, the Al-Adiri camp in Kuwait housing US personnel, and had deployed drones against a base in Erbil, Iraq, where American troops are stationed. A Guards spokesperson indicated that new strategies and weaponry would shortly be unveiled to counter Israeli and US aggression, without elaborating further.
The conflict, now in its seventh day, has seen Iranian strikes reach Israel, Gulf nations, Cyprus, Turkey and Azerbaijan, with hostilities extending to the Indian Ocean where a US submarine destroyed an Iranian naval vessel. "This was an 'existential war' for Iran, leaving us with no choice but to respond wherever American attacks originate from," Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh declared at the Raisina Dialogues conference in Delhi on Friday. Iranian Kurdish militias have been in discussions with Washington about potential operations against Iran's security apparatus, according to three sources familiar with the consultations.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth insisted on Thursday that America was not broadening its military goals in Iran, despite Trump's remarks about selecting the country's future leader. "There's no expansion in our objectives. We know exactly what we're trying to achieve," he stated, identifying the destruction of Iran's ballistic missile capability and the prevention of nuclear weapons development as core aims. Hegseth also confirmed on Wednesday that the military was probing an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school that claimed the lives of scores of children on Saturday. The military campaign against Iran remains a political risk for the Republican president, with polling indicating limited public backing and growing anxiety over soaring petrol prices driven by energy supply disruptions.
Wall Street shares slid on Thursday under the weight of climbing oil prices as the economic fallout deepened, with nations worldwide cut off from a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, aviation networks in disarray and international logistics increasingly strained. Azerbaijan readied retaliatory measures after reporting that four Iranian drones breached its border and wounded four people in the Nakhchivan exclave. "We will not tolerate this unprovoked act of terror and aggression against Azerbaijan," President Ilham Aliyev told media during a Security Council session. Tehran, home to a sizeable Azeri minority, denied targeting its neighbour. Meanwhile, Lebanon's Iran-allied Hezbollah militia issued a warning on Friday for Israeli residents to vacate towns within 5km of the border, cautioning that military aggression against Lebanese sovereignty would "not go unchallenged." French President Emmanuel Macron pledged armoured transport vehicles and additional support to bolster cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Hegseth and Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US forces in the region, affirmed during a briefing that American munitions stockpiles were sufficient to sustain operations indefinitely. "Our munitions are full up and our will is ironclad," they declared. The Pentagon earlier designated the campaign Operation Epic Fury, aimed at neutralising Iran's offensive missiles, production infrastructure and naval forces while blocking any path to nuclear capability. Cooper reported that at least 30 Iranian ships had been struck, including a massive drone carrier comparable in size to a Second World War aircraft carrier. B-2 bombers had delivered dozens of 2 000-pound penetrator munitions against deeply buried ballistic missile launchers, while production facilities were also being targeted. Iranian ballistic missile attacks had fallen by 90% since the opening day, with drone strikes down 83%. The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported at least 1 230 fatalities, among them 175 schoolgirls and staff killed at a primary school in Minab on the first day of hostilities. In Lebanon, the Health Ministry confirmed 77 deaths, as thousands fled southern Beirut on Thursday following Israeli evacuation warnings.
