The staggering scale of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran came into sharp focus on Friday when Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that combined forces had struck more than 15,000 enemy targets since the war began, at a pace exceeding 1,000 strikes per day. President Donald Trump called Iranian leaders “deranged scumbags” in a social media post and promised even harder strikes in the coming days, framing the campaign as a systematic effort to choke off Iran’s entire military machine. The announcement came alongside news that US forces had obliterated every military installation on Kharg Island.
The 15,000-target figure represents one of the most intensive bombing campaigns in the history of the Middle East. Israel alone confirmed more than 200 individual strikes in the most recent 24-hour period, hitting Iranian missile launchers, weapons production sites, and air defence systems. The Kharg Island operation, described by Trump as one of the most powerful bombing raids in regional history, destroyed every military facility on Iran’s primary oil export hub. Trump simultaneously warned that the island’s oil infrastructure would be targeted next if Iran continued to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who assumed power after Israel killed his father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, issued a Thursday written statement pledging continued resistance and calling for national unity. US officials dismissed the communication as weak and described Khamenei as wounded, likely disfigured, and hiding underground after failing to appear in any video or audio format. Iranian state media, however, showed other senior officials including Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi walking in Tehran’s streets and attending pro-government demonstrations.
The conflict’s reach extended across the Middle East in every direction. Lebanon recorded over 600 deaths and 800,000 displaced, with eight more killed in Sidon in an Israeli strike Friday. Hezbollah fired rockets at northern Israel, injuring about 60. Saudi Arabia intercepted close to 50 Iranian drones. Qatar issued Doha evacuation warnings before a missile interception. Two Omanis died in drone crashes. Dubai’s financial district sustained building damage. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards launched new coordinated strikes on Israel with Hezbollah as part of al-Quds Day.
Tehran residents described unceasing bombardment, power cuts, fuel shortages, and trapped civilians. A retired professor begged the world to act. A shopkeeper counted six explosions in an hour. Iran has reported over 1,300 deaths since the war began. The United States has lost 13 service members, including six in a tanker aircraft crash in Iraq. France lost one soldier in Iraq to an Iranian militia drone. European governments sought diplomatic channels with Tehran for Strait of Hormuz shipping safety, while Trump’s threats about oil infrastructure strikes kept global energy markets watching the conflict with deep anxiety.
