Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump warned Friday that Iran faces sweeping retaliation as fighting across the Middle East escalated, claiming Iranian military capabilities were being destroyed.
In a morning post on Truth Social, the president said Iranian forces were suffering heavy losses as the conflict expanded.
“We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise,” President Trump wrote. “Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth.”
“They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them,” he added. “What a great honor it is to do so!”
The comments came as Iran launched a new wave of attacks across the Gulf early Friday. Saudi Arabia said its air defenses intercepted nearly 50 Iranian drones sent in multiple waves toward the kingdom. Warning sirens also sounded in Bahrain as authorities responded to incoming fire.
In Dubai, black smoke rose from an industrial area after officials said debris from a missile interception sparked a fire. A building in the Dubai International Financial Center was damaged by falling debris from what authorities described as a successful interception.
In Oman, two people were killed when drones crashed in an industrial area in the Sohar region, according to the Oman News Agency.
The conflict also spread into Turkey early Friday when NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Iran. Residents in the southern city of Adana reported hearing an explosion near Incirlik Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces.
Turkey’s Defense Ministry said NATO air defenses destroyed the missile in the eastern Mediterranean.
Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people have been killed in the country since the war began. Israel has reported 12 deaths, while the United States has lost at least 11 service members and reported eight others severely wounded.
