Israeli warplanes pound Iran and Lebanon as US warns attacks will intensify

Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut and Tehran on Friday as Iran launched another wave of retaliatory strikes against Israel and Gulf countries that host U.S. forces.

U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to rule out negotiations with Iran in a social media post calling for its “unconditional surrender.” Trump told media outlets on Thursday that he wants to be involved in picking Iran’s next leader.

The death toll continues to rise. At least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 120 in Lebanon, and around a dozen in Israel have been killed, according to officials in those countries. Six U.S. troops have been killed.

The U.S. military said early Friday that it struck an Iranian drone carrier, setting it ablaze. Its Central Command released black-and-white footage of the burning carrier. The Iranian military did not immediately acknowledge the attack.

London police said Friday that four men have been arrested on suspicion of aiding Iran by spying on the Jewish community. The Metropolitan Police said the suspects — one Iranian and three dual British-Iranian nationals — were taken into custody and that searches are ongoing.

Israel hits Iranian leaders’ bunker

Israel’s military said Friday that it had pummeled an underground bunker Iranian leaders had planned to use in emergencies, deploying more than 50 fighter jets and 100 munitions.

Iran has spent decades constructing underground bunkers for a range of purposes and contingencies. Many of them have been targeted this week.

After strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other leaders, Israel’s military has continued to strike their infrastructure. Israel’s military said its targets have included the Supreme National Security Council’s building — the meeting place for the country’s top security forum — as well as a Revolutionary Guard military academy.

Argentine tourists are ‘desperate to leave’ Israel, ambassador says

Rabbi Axel Wahnish told Radio Rivadavia in Buenos Aires on Friday that 260 Argentine tourists are stranded, and their relatives and contacts are begging for help leaving Israel.

He noted that both official instructions and unofficial recommendations say “the safest thing” to do is to wait and stay close to a shelter.

“The skies are completely closed for departure,” Wahnish said. “The only way out is via Egypt in the south, at the Taba crossing, but you have a four-hour land trip, which is risky.”

He said many Argentines are trying to flee to Egypt despite the danger, and the embassy is helping them “to evacuate via that route.”

Tehran resident tells of living through airstrikes

“The psychological pressure is real. The sound of explosions and the uncertainty about what might happen next make it hard to sleep,” the 29-year-old told The Associated Press. He declined to be identified due to safety concerns.

“At the same time, people are trying to keep hope alive and believe that this difficult time will eventually pass,” he said.

He and his family are among many residents choosing to remain in the city, although others had left for safer locations, he said in text messages.

A lack of reliable information and air raid warnings are adding to people’s anxiety. “During the Iran–Iraq war, people say there were sirens to warn civilians but today there is no such system,” he said.

While there were no shortages, many businesses are closed and prices are rising daily.

Displaced Beirut residents sleep on streets as Israeli strikes southern suburbs

Beirut’s roads were choked with traffic and its squares and parks dotted with tents as residents fled Israeli strikes Friday.

As smoke from airstrikes rose over the city’s southern districts, Israel’s warnings to leave the area caused gridlock downtown. More than 95,000 people have been displaced.

Those unable to find shelter in schools put up tents or slept in cars. Others laid blankets on pavement.

“What can we do? We prayed here under the tree. During the night we slept in the car because there is no place to stay,” said Jihan Shehadeh, who like many others is fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

“They threatened the southern suburbs, so we gathered our things, left and moved out of the whole area. Now we’re living a tragic life here, displaced,” added Jamal Saif Al-Din.

Portugal says it has evacuated 186 people from the Mideast

Portugal said Friday that two repatriation flights from the Mideast had reached its territory. A TAP charter plane arriving Friday morning from Oman carried 147 passengers, 139 of them Portuguese. The rest were foreign nationals, Portuguese Prime Minister Luís Montenegro said at a summit.

A separate military flight reached Portugal on Friday carrying 24 Portuguese nationals and 15 foreigners, the government said.

Portugal has allowed the U.S. to use the Lajes air base on the Azores Islands for its air campaign against Iran. This contrasts starkly with that of neighboring Spain, which disallowed Washington to use bases within its territory, sparking a diplomatic tussle with the Trump administration.

Montenegro defended Portugal’s stance on Friday, citing its long-standing relationship with the U.S. and Iran’s violations of international law.

US says more charter flights are bringing Americans back from Mideast

The State Department says more U.S. government chartered flights are bringing stranded Americans home from the Middle East daily, including one plane emblazoned with the New England Patriots’ logo.

The assistant secretary of state for public affairs posted a photo of Americans boarding the Patriots plane, at least the second such flight that landed Dulles International Airport outside Washington on Friday.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft is a friend and supporter of Trump, but his football franchise did not arrange or pay for the flight, the social media post said.

“One of the companies the State Department contracted for charter flights also manages the New England Patriots team plane. This flight was entirely paid for by the State Department. The New England Patriots organization was not involved in this flight,” it said.

Trump calls for Iran’s ‘unconditional surrender’

The president appeared to rule out negotiations with Iran to end the conflict in the Middle East, saying in a social media post Friday that there will be no deal absent “unconditional surrender” from Tehran.

“After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before,” Trump said.

He has said multiple times that whomever takes over leadership of Iran must be to the U.S.’s liking.

Trump signed off the social media post with “MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!),” a riff on his longtime campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

‘Kill them wherever you find them,’ Hezbollah command tells fighters

Hezbollah’s military command is calling on the group’s gunmen to fight to the death, saying that the war they are fighting is similar to that fought by one of Shiite Islam’s most important religious figures 13 centuries ago.

The group’s command also said in a statement directed to fighters that they should “defend the nation” to keep Hezbollah’s yellow banner flying.

“Kill them wherever you find them,” the command said, describing the ongoing war as a religious battle similar to the one fought by Imam Hussein in Karbala.

Imam Hussein was killed in a climactic battle in Karbala, which is now part of Iraq, in A.D. 680.

“Karbala is happening again,” the statement said.

German leader wants a functioning Iranian state after the war

Chancellor Friedrich Merz says he doesn’t want to see a “Syrian scenario” in Iran, referring to Syria’s long civil war.

Merz says that “we want this state to be capable of functioning by itself.”

He says his appeal in his discussions with the U.S. and Israel is “to create as quickly as possible the preconditions for this country to be stabilized, for it to get a democratically legitimized government and for it to continue to exist as a state.”