Trump Calls Iranian Deaths a Personal Mission as Conflict Draws in Qatar and Oman

The expanding circle of nations caught in the Middle East conflict widened further on Friday as Qatar and Oman became the latest countries to face direct strikes or casualties from the war. Qatar’s interior ministry ordered evacuations of parts of Doha before explosions were heard and a missile was confirmed intercepted over the city. In Oman, two people died when drones crashed in an industrial area near the port city of Sohar. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump called the killing of Iranian leaders a personal mission and great honor, using profane language to describe them in a social media post.
Trump’s post called Iranian leaders “deranged scumbags” who had killed innocent people worldwide for 47 years, and framed their deaths at the hands of US forces as a natural consequence he was proud to oversee as the 47th American president. His comments were made as American and Israeli aircraft pounded Tehran in successive bombing waves throughout the day. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, speaking to reporters in Washington, echoed the aggressive tone, describing Iranian leaders as desperate and in hiding.
US and Israeli forces have struck more than 15,000 combined enemy targets since the start of the conflict, the equivalent of over 1,000 strikes per day. Israel confirmed more than 200 individual strikes in the most recent 24-hour period alone, hitting missile launchers, weapons sites, and air defence systems across Iran. Trump announced that Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil export terminal, had been militarily obliterated by US forces in what he called the most powerful bombing raid in Middle Eastern history.
Gulf states continued to bear the brunt of Iran’s retaliatory campaign. Saudi Arabia neutralized close to 50 Iranian drones in a single day of intensive defensive operations. Debris from an intercepted Iranian strike damaged a building in Dubai’s prestigious International Financial Centre. Iranian forces announced new salvoes targeting Gulf infrastructure, alongside coordinated missile and drone strikes on Israel in what they described as part of the annual al-Quds Day observance.
Lebanon remained a major front in the conflict, with over 600 killed and 800,000 displaced since the latest fighting began. At least eight more died in an Israeli strike on Sidon on Friday. Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, injuring about 60 people. The United States has lost 13 service members, including six in a tanker plane crash in Iraq. France lost one soldier in Iraq to a militia drone strike. Iran has reported over 1,300 deaths, Israel 12, and the death toll across the entire region continues to rise with no ceasefire in prospect.