The war in the Middle East entered its seventh day on Friday as the United States military released footage of what it described as multiple precision strikes on Iranian targets.
In a post on X, the US central command shared a video showing American forces carrying out strikes against Iranian assets. “Iranian targets are being decimated by US forces, paving the way for continued delivery of overwhelming American military firepower,” the command said while sharing the footage.
The video comes amid escalating hostilities across the region involving the United States, Israel and Iran, with missile attacks, air strikes and cross-border threats reported across the region.
Israel said it had launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran, targeting what it described as “regime infrastructure” in a “new phase” of the war.
AFP journalists in the Iranian capital reported hearing loud explosions, while Iranian media also reported heavy strikes. An Iranian official said at least 20 people were killed in US and Israeli strikes in the southern city of Shiraz, though AFP said it could not independently verify the toll.
Iranian missile launches triggered air-raid alerts in Israel, with reports of multiple blasts over Tel Aviv after the Israeli military said it had detected missiles fired from Iran.
“A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said.
The conflict has also heightened tensions across the Gulf. Residents of Dubai on Friday received phone alerts from the Emirati interior ministry warning of potential missile threats and urging people to seek shelter away from windows and open areas.
Saudi Arabia said its air defences intercepted three drones east of Riyadh and destroyed three missiles aimed at an air base. Qatar said it had thwarted a drone attack targeting the US-run Al-Udeid air base, Washington’s largest military installation in the Middle East.
Elsewhere in the region, Bahrain said Iran struck a hotel and two residential buildings in the capital Manama, revising an earlier statement that had reported damage to two hotels.
The humanitarian toll is also mounting. Lebanese prime minister Nawaf Salam warned that “a humanitarian disaster is looming” as Israeli evacuation orders triggered large-scale displacement from Hezbollah-controlled areas in Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon. Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 123 people had been killed in Israeli strikes since the country was pulled into the conflict earlier this week, including casualties from fresh strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs.
The United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk called for “transparent and impartial investigations” into a reported deadly strike on a school in Iran. “What we have asked for is obviously prompt, transparent and impartial investigations, which we understand has been announced by the United States of America,” he told reporters in Geneva, adding that “we need this to happen very quickly and we need to also make sure that there is accountability as well as redress for the victims”.
Military fallout has also spread beyond the main combat zones. Kuwait’s defence ministry said 67 army personnel had been injured since Iran began its retaliation campaign, the highest number reported by any Gulf military so far.
In Europe, British authorities arrested four men in London on suspicion of assisting Iran’s intelligence service by allegedly spying on locations and individuals linked to the city’s Jewish community. Police said one suspect was Iranian while the others held dual UK-Iranian nationality.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump said sending American ground troops into Iran was not under consideration at present. “It’s a waste of time. They’ve lost everything. They’ve lost their navy. They’ve lost everything they can lose,” he told NBC in a telephone interview, dismissing comments by Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi suggesting Tehran was ready for a ground invasion.
In a separate development, Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese said three Australian military personnel were aboard a US submarine involved in sinking an Iranian navy vessel near Sri Lanka earlier this week as part of a training arrangement.
Trump also signalled support for Iranian Kurdish fighters potentially launching an offensive against Tehran, saying: “I think it’s wonderful that they want to do that, I’d be all for it.”
