The US military says it has attacked three Iranian oil tankers in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. As the responsible US regional command Centcom also announced, it was responding to an attack by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards with ballistic missiles on two US warships that were patrolling the waters. The USA then âcompletelyâ destroyed an Iranian tanker in the Gulf of Oman, and two other ships were âpermanently disabledâ near the island of Kharg and near Jask.
A US aircraft carrier and a guided-missile destroyer successfully evaded several unprovoked Iranian attacks, it said. There were therefore no injuries among the American crew members.
According to the US military, the three Iranian crude oil tankers belong to a billion-dollar shadow network that finances the Revolutionary Guards and their regional proxies. Iran has no means to defend them, it said.
The message to the Revolutionary Guard, according to Centcom commander Admiral Brad Cooper, is clear: âIf you fire on two of our ships, we will impose an even greater economic cost on you - by taking out three of your ships.â US forces are prepared to destroy Iran's limited and unprotected oil fleet.
Iranian media had previously reported explosions near the strategically important island of Kharg in the Persian Gulf. According to information from the Tasnim news agency, four US missiles are said to have hit an Iranian oil tanker around eleven kilometers off the coast of the island. Accordingly, there were no casualties and the crew evacuated the ship.
Kharg is the most important transshipment point for Iranian crude oil exports. According to reports, more than 90 percent of Iran's exports go there.
Civil defense in the Gaza Strip says it has recovered the remains of 55 people from the rubble of a residential building. The building in the city of Gaza was destroyed in Israeli bombing raids two years ago. During the Gaza war, members of a family and internally displaced persons were staying there. There was initially no independent confirmation.
According to the United Nations Satellite Center (Unosat), 82 percent of all buildings in the Gaza Strip were destroyed or damaged during the war. Health authorities in Gaza, as well as UN agencies and aid organizations, estimate that the remains of 10,000 to 14,000 people are buried under the rubble.
Iranian media reports explosions near the strategically important island of Kharg in the Persian Gulf. According to the Fars news agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guards, there were no signs of smoke or fire. Official information about the cause and possible damage was initially not available.
According to the Iranian news agency Isna, a small ship is said to have been hit. According to the report, there were no casualties. The information cannot currently be independently verified. Kharg is the most important transshipment point for Iranian crude oil exports. According to reports, more than 90 percent of Iran's exports pass through here.
At least three people were killed in Israeli attacks in the south and east of Lebanon on Friday evening. 23 other people were injured in the attacks on a total of five locations in the southern regions of Tire and Nabatije as well as in Bekaa in the east, the Lebanese Ministry of Health announced. The attacks took place despite a ceasefire currently in effect between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militia.
According to reports from the Lebanese news agency NNA, two young men were hit on their motorcycle in the town of Nabatije. Their bodies were therefore taken to a hospital by rescue workers.
Israel stepped up its attacks in the Nabatiye region on Friday and also attacked the village of Rmadiyeh in the Tire area, more than 10 kilometers from the Israeli border.
The Lebanese Ministry of Health said there was a third death there. In addition, 15 people were injured, including two children, three women and six rescue workers.
Lebanon was drawn into the Iran War in March when Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon attacked Israel. Israel responded with air strikes and a ground offensive. According to Lebanese information, more than 4,300 people were killed.
Against the backdrop of a lack of success in the conflict with Iran, US President Donald Trump is trying to downplay the war against the Islamic Republic. "I call it a military conflict because to us it's a small thing. It's not a big deal," he said at a news conference in the Oval Office, before boasting about his supposed successes.
Trump initially did not respond to a journalist's question as to whether 18 dead members of the US military were "small fish". Instead, he boasted that the United States was the leader in space âby a wide margin.â He later backtracked a bit: âWe lost 18 people, 18 great people (...) and one is already one too many.â
The US government has been trying to put the Iran war into perspective for a long time. The important parliamentary elections are coming up in around two months. Due to the energy crisis caused by the fact that the Strait of Hormuz remains blocked - which was still open to global oil trade before the conflict - many Americans are struggling with high prices. This creates little enthusiasm for the policies of Trump and his Republicans.
Just on Thursday, Vice President JD Vance downplayed the conflict with Iran at the first official White House press briefing in weeks. âI wouldnât call it a war,â he told reporters, arguing that there is currently no fighting. In the months before and most recently at the beginning of the week, the US military had repeatedly targeted Iranian targets. The USA began its latest war against Iran together with Israel at the end of February.
Israel announced on Thursday the release of five civilians detained in southern Lebanon in the latest war between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah. After the interrogations were completed, it emerged âthat these were civilians who did not belong to a terrorist organization and were not involved in terrorist activities,â said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuâs office. There is âno reason to continue to hold them in Israel.â
The decision followed "extensive efforts" by Israel and Lebanon to locate and return the remains of leaders of the Lebanese Jewish community who were kidnapped and killed during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s.
For its part, Lebanon said its army had received a man through the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC said a humanitarian operation was currently underway.
The United States is investigating reports of a deadly missile strike at a wedding reception in Iran, according to Vice President JD Vance. The country's state media have not yet reported particularly reliably on the conflict, he said at a press conference in the White House. He is therefore extremely skeptical.
Unlike the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, the United States would never target civilians in combat, he emphasized. The US military had previously made similar statements. "We'll never do that. We've never done that. And unfortunately, of course, sometimes things happen," Vance said. In this particular case, however, he does not believe that there is any information in one direction or the other.
âWeâre looking into it because itâs obviously important to us,â he said. âWe want to know.â And if the US military makes âmistakesâ â that is also different from Iran â then it learns from them in order to improve.
F.A.Z. correspondent Friederike Böge has already reported on the incident:
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has described overthrowing Iran's leadership as "the most important task that still lies ahead." According to his office, Netanyahu said he was firmly convinced that this was possible at a meeting at the military headquarters in Tel Aviv. This task is ânear,â he said. "It's not impossible. It's within our reach."
The Israeli head of government spoke of âhistoric achievementsâ in the wars against Iran this year and last year. âWe faced the threat of our annihilation at the hands of a regime that seeks to wipe us out and equips itself with nuclear weapons to destroy us,â Netanyahu said. âWe have pushed back this threat and other threats as well.â
The leadership in Tehran is currently weakened and âweaker than ever before,â Netanyahu also said. That's why Iran doesn't attack Israel. At the same time, the prime minister threatened: âI tell our enemies: Donât mess with us.â Israel has âthe strength, the determination and the inner unity to defeat you.â
The USA launched its latest war against Iran together with Israel at the end of February and attacked the country from the air for almost 40 days. Numerous influential generals and top politicians were deliberately killed, including Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on the first day of the war. Contrary to what US President Donald Trump promised, the killings did not bring about âregime changeâ. Rather, the war consolidated the power of radical forces and the influential military apparatus in Iran.
The Gulf state of Kuwait was once again the target of Iranian attacks early this morning. The air defense âdefends enemy missile and drone attacks,â said the military of the US-allied country on Platform X. Explosion noises are due to the interception of the drones.
Iran's state broadcaster Irib reported on X that the attacks were a response to "America's crimes" and targeted US military bases in Kuwait.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is now extending troop deployments in the region, according to information from the Wall Street Journal. This is a sign that the conflict that began a good six months ago could drag on well into next year, the US newspaper quoted people familiar with the matter as saying.
After resuming mutual attacks, US President Donald Trump threatened Iran with further attacks. âWe did a lot more than just blow up their radar last night,â Trump said at the White House on Wednesday. âIt was a very fierce attack last night and we are ready to launch another one at any time.â
US President Donald Trump has suggested renaming the Strait of Hormuz after himself on his Truth Social platform. âNow that we have it under US control, should we change the name Strait of Hormuz to TRUMP STREET???â he asked provocatively. âJust like America itself, it would then be âhotterâ than ever!â Trump added.
Trump has repeatedly announced or ordered the renaming of geographical locations - most recently the US-Canadian border lake Lake Ontario to "Lake America". Canada rejects the renaming.
In the case of the Strait of Hormuz, it remained unclear how Trump envisioned renaming the strait. Iran has territorial waters on its north side, Oman on its south side.
The US President had already half-jokingly spoken of the âStreet of Trumpâ. Last month he also announced that he wanted to declare the strait US territory after the end of the Iran War. He did not provide any further information about the implementation at the time.
Despite existing restrictions on commercial shipping in the Strait, the US government consistently maintains that the Strait of Hormuz is under US control.
In the wake of new military strikes, the Iranian currency falls to a record low of more than 2.2 million riyals per dollar. This emerges from data from two websites that display the floating exchange rate. This means that the rial has fallen by around ten percent within a week. Within a year, the currency loses around half of its value.
The US military has reported reports of a deadly missile strike at a wedding reception in
