Iran Barrage Sweeps Mideast as Trump Weighs In on Succession

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Of the 500 ballistic and cruise missiles and 2,000 drones Iran has launched since the start of the war, about 60% were aimed at American targets, according to Iran’s Fars News Agency. Many of those US assets are located in Gulf states.

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Countries in Europe and Asia are moving to bolster the region’s defenses. Italy intends to send air- and missile-defense systems, as well as counter-drone capabilities, to the Gulf, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said Thursday. 

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South Korea said it is in talks with the US about the possible redeployment of weapons, including Patriot air-defense systems. France has authorized US military support aircraft not involved in operations in Iran to use Istres Air Base, AFP reported.

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NATO said it was boosting its missile defense posture following the downing on Wednesday of an Iranian missile heading toward Turkish airspace.

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Trump, when asked by Reuters on Thursday if Ukraine could help with countering Iranian drones, said: “I’ll take any assistance from any country.”

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Explosions were heard in parts of Tehran overnight, while Israel said Iran had launched a new wave of missiles at its cities. Hours earlier, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said strikes have neutralized more than 60% of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers and the IDF is moving into the next phase of its efforts to dismantle the Iranian regime and its military capabilities. 

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Meanwhile, Israel’s strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon continued, with Lebanese authorities saying at least 102 people have been killed since March 2.

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Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has ground to a near-complete halt, with crossings falling to their lowest level since the weekend’s effective closure of the key global artery for commodities from oil to fertilizers. 

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Recent reviews of shipping signals in the Strait “indicates transits have reduced to single-digit levels, with only two confirmed commercial transits observed in the past 24 hours,” the Joint Maritime Information Center said in a note on Friday.

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Trump on Thursday dismissed concerns about the rise in energy prices, saying “further action to reduce pressure on oil is imminent, and the oil seems to have pretty much stabilized.”

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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters “it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three” weeks before operations are concluded. Trump told Politico the US has an “unlimited supply of weapons,” remarks Hegseth echoed. 

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“Iran is hoping we cannot sustain this,” Hegseth told news conference later at Central Command’s headquarters in Florida,. “Our capabilities are overwhelming and gathering still, as are those of our Israeli partners. Our munitions are full up.”

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Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said retaliatory attacks will intensify in coming days, the country’s Nour news agency said. 

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Disputing tthe Trump administration’s claims on an Iranian outreach, the Islamic Republic’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News his country hasn’t asked for a ceasefire and had no intention to negotiate. 

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“We see no reason why we should engage once again with those” who are “not honest,” he said.

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—With assistance from Jordan Fabian, Ani Avetisyan, Courtney McBride, Jeff Mason, Jon Herskovitz, Roxana Tiron, Bill Faries, Derek Wallbank, Thomas Hall, Yasufumi Saito, Kate Sullivan, Andrea Palasciano, Kateryna Kadabashy, Alisa Odenheimer, Benoit Berthelot and Laura Davison.

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