Trump Calls on Americans to ‘Watch’ Iran Strikes After US Warplanes Hit Over 15,000 Targets

President Donald Trump invited Americans to “watch what happens” to Iran on Friday, a taunt that accompanied one of the most intense days of the US-Israeli military campaign against Tehran. Calling Iranian leaders “deranged scumbags,” Trump made clear he saw the killing of Iran’s leadership as both a strategic necessity and a personal point of pride. The remarks came as US and Israeli aircraft conducted back-to-back waves of strikes over Tehran, and as the combined target count in the war surpassed 15,000.
The figure of 15,000 targets struck, confirmed by Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, translates to more than 1,000 enemy sites hit every day since the war began. Israel confirmed more than 200 individual strikes in the most recent 24-hour period, targeting Iranian missile systems, weapons factories, and air defence infrastructure. Late Friday, Trump announced a major escalation with the destruction of all military installations on Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, in what he called the most powerful bombing raid in Middle Eastern history.
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who took over after Israel killed his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a defiant written statement Thursday pledging continued resistance. American officials were quick to point out that the statement came without any video or audio component, suggesting the leader had been incapacitated by the strikes. Hegseth described him as wounded and likely disfigured, and said Iranian leaders as a group were desperate and hiding underground.
The war continued to reach into every corner of the Middle East. Lebanon recorded over 600 deaths and 800,000 displaced, with more killed in an Israeli strike on Sidon Friday. Hezbollah wounded about 60 people in northern Israel with rocket salvoes. Saudi Arabia shot down close to 50 Iranian drones. Qatar issued Doha evacuations before intercepting missiles. Two people died in Oman from drone crashes. Debris damaged a Dubai financial hub building. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced new coordinated strikes with Hezbollah on Israel as part of al-Quds Day.
American losses have mounted too, with six service members killed in a tanker aircraft crash in Iraq and the overall US death toll reaching 13, with eight more severely injured. France also lost a soldier to a pro-Iranian militia drone attack in Iraq. Economically, Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz threatened the global oil market, prompting European governments to quietly seek diplomatic solutions while Trump issued stark warnings about the consequences of continued interference with the vital shipping lane.