DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) 鈥� Iran鈥檚 secretive new leader issued his first public statements Thursday, resolving to keep fighting, promising more pain for Gulf Arab states and threatening to open 鈥渙ther fronts鈥� in a war that has already disrupted world energy supplies, the global economy and international travel.
Early Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump issued a new threat online to Iran, writing: 鈥淲atch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.鈥� Trump tallied the damage inflicted on Iran and its leaders and called it a 鈥済reat honor鈥� to be responsible for it.
The remarks by Supreme Leader Ayatollah came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country’s attacks were creating conditions for the Iranian population to topple the government.
鈥淚t is in your hands,鈥� Netanyahu said at a news conference, addressing the Iranian people. 鈥淲e are creating the optimal conditions for the fall of the regime.鈥�
Since the start of the war, U.S. and Israeli strikes have targeted security checkpoints in Iran to undermine the government鈥檚 ability to suppress dissent, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, the U.S-based independent monitoring group known .
Intense airstrikes hit early Friday around Iran鈥檚 capital, Tehran, as well as outlying areas. It was not immediately clear what had been targeted.
Netanyahu denounces Iranian leader
Netanyahu denounced Khamenei as a 鈥減uppet of the Revolutionary Guards.”
Khamenei is close to Iran鈥檚 paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and is widely seen as even less compromising than his father, Ayatollah .
Khamenei said in a statement read by a state TV news anchor that he was keeping a 鈥渇ile of revenge.鈥� He did not appear on camera and has not been seen since his father and wife were killed in the war鈥檚 opening salvo, which also wounded him, according to an Iranian ambassador.
Oil prices spiral again and stocks sink
The war continued to escalate on its 13th day as oil prices spiraled up again , and stocks sank worldwide over fears that the conflict could drag on longer than hoped.
To relieve the surge in prices, the U.S. Treasury Department announced it was further easing sanctions on Russian oil by granting a license that authorizes the delivery and sale of some Russian crude oil and petroleum products for the next month.
Trump signaled earlier this week that he would take more action to address the squeeze on oil flows. The move follows the administration鈥檚 decision to grant temporary permission for India to buy Russian oil.
The new exemption applies only to Russian oil already at sea. Last week, there were about 125 million barrels loaded on tankers. To put that in perspective, about 20 million barrels of oil per day usually pass through the , according to the International Energy Agency.
Iran has made clear it plans to on energy infrastructure across the region and use the effective closure of the strait as leverage against the United States and Israel. A fifth of the world鈥檚 traded oil flows through the waterway leading from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean.
At a news conference Thursday, Iran鈥檚 ambassador to Tunisia, Mir Masoud Hosseinian, said Iranian naval forces 鈥渉ave established full control鈥� over the strait and 鈥渃arried out precise strikes in response to attacks on our oil infrastructure.鈥�
鈥淕lobal energy security is contingent on respect for Iran鈥檚 sovereignty,鈥� he said.
The pinch was being felt worldwide. South Korea reinstated government-set caps on oil prices for the first time in three decades as it sought to calm soaring fuel costs. The two-week caps, which took effect Friday, set maximum prices for petroleum products supplied by refiners to gas stations and other businesses.
Iranian leader calls for the shutdown of US bases
Hosseinian told The Associated Press the new supreme leader was wounded in the attack on his family鈥檚 home, but 鈥渋t is not serious.鈥� The hope is he will attend the massive, state-organized Eid prayer next week that his father traditionally led. However, Khamenei remains a target for the Israelis, who have vowed to kill him.
Hosseinian said Iran鈥檚 strikes on Gulf nations have been strategic. 鈥淓ven when we targeted hotels, we had precise information that they were hosting American and Israeli soldiers,鈥� he said.
Khamenei called on Gulf Arabs to 鈥渟hut down鈥� U.S. bases in the region, saying protection promised by Washington was 鈥渘othing more than a lie.鈥�
He also said Iran has studied 鈥渙pening other fronts in which the enemy has little experience and would be highly vulnerable鈥� if the war continues. He did not elaborate, but Iran has been linked to previous attacks on U.S., Israeli and Jewish targets around the world.
Attacks on Gulf states continued Friday with Saudi Arabia鈥檚 defense ministry saying its air defenses downed more than three dozen drones headed toward the kingdom鈥檚 Eastern Province over the span of a few hours, marking an unusually large barrage.
Iran’s nuclear program takes more hits
Trump said in a social media post Thursday that ensuring Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon was a higher priority than soaring oil prices.
Hours later, Netanyahu announced Israeli attacks had killed a top Iranian nuclear scientist and hit others but gave few details.
Israel said earlier it struck a nuclear facility in Iran in recent days that it had destroyed with an airstrike in October 2024. Earlier this year, satellite photos raised concerns that Iran was working to restore the facility.
France says soldier killed in attack in Iraq
The U.S. military said American forces have now struck more than 6,000 targets since the operation against Iran began, including more than 30 minelaying vessels.
On Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron said a French soldier was killed in an attack targeting Irbil in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region. France earlier said six soldiers had been hurt in a drone strike in Irbil, where French troops are deployed as part of a multinational counterterrorism mission supporting Iraqi forces in their fight against Islamic State militants.
In the same region, British officials said several U.S. personnel suffered minor injuries Wednesday when drone strikes hit a base in Irbil that houses both British and American troops.
And on Thursday in western Iraq, after an American military refueling plane went down. U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, said in a statement that two aircraft were involved, including one that landed safely, and that the cause was not related to friendly or hostile fire.
Israel targets heart of Beirut in fight with Hezbollah militants
Israeli warplanes pummeled Lebanon, targeting even the busy heart of Beirut, in response to missiles from Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters launched into Israel. One strike hit in a neighborhood that is close to Lebanon鈥檚 parliament, United Nations offices and international embassies.
Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said forces were targeting a 鈥渇acility affiliated with Hezbollah.鈥�
An Israeli strike hit in the vicinity of Lebanon鈥檚 only public university, killing a professor and the director of the science faculty at the campus in Hadath, on the outskirts of Beirut鈥檚 southern suburbs. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
Israeli strikes also killed 15 other people, including five children, in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. An AP photographer saw several buildings flattened in one village where rescue workers searched through the rubble.
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Ben Mbarek reported from Tunis, Tunisia. El Deeb reported from Beirut. Watson reported from San Diego. Associated Press writers from around the world contributed to this report.
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