Iran launched a broad wave of drone attacks across Gulf Arab nations early Friday, sending nearly 50 drones at Saudi Arabia, hitting an industrial area in Oman and striking the Dubai International Financial Centre, as President Trump vowed new retaliation and the region braced for further escalation.
Saudi Arabia said it shot down nearly 50 Iranian drones fired in multiple waves throughout the early morning hours. In Oman, two people were killed when two drones crashed into an industrial area near Sohar. Sirens sounded across Bahrain warning of incoming fire. In Dubai, debris from an intercepted drone sparked a blaze and caused structural damage to a building at the DIFC, a free-trade zone housing banks, wealth managers and capital trading firms.
“We are totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran, militarily, economically, and otherwise, yet, if you read the Failing New York Times, you would incorrectly think that we are not winning,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social. “Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth.”
“We have unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition, and plenty of time – Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today,” he continued. “They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them. What a great honor it is to do so! Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Iran’s newly installed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued a written statement Thursday vowing to “not refrain from avenging the blood” of Iranians killed in the conflict. He warned Gulf Arab nations that hosting American military bases would make them targets, saying U.S. promises of protection amounted to “nothing more than a lie.”
Iran had vowed earlier this week to target banks and financial institutions in retaliation for an airstrike that struck a Tehran bank. The hit on Dubai’s DIFC fulfilled that threat. The financial center is home to some of the region’s largest financial institutions and serves as a hub for global investment into the Middle East.
Turkey reported that NATO air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Iran over the eastern Mediterranean, the third such intercept since the war began. Residents in the southern city of Adana reported hearing a loud explosion and sirens near Incirlik Air Base, which houses U.S. forces.
In Lebanon, Hezbollah fired multiple rocket salvoes toward northern Israel Friday, wounding nearly 60 people, the vast majority suffering minor injuries. Israeli forces struck targets in both Beirut and eastern Lebanon in response.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that Iran’s missile production capacity had been “functionally defeated.”
