Explosions rock Tehran as top Iranian leaders attend Quds Day rally; IRGC says it attacked Abraham Lincoln
Ali Larijani joins a Quds Day march in Tehran, hours after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed Iranian leaders were “hiding like rats”. Photo: Courtesy
DUBAI/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM/LONDON:
A U.S. KC-135 refueling plane crashed in western Iraq, killing all six crew members, the U.S. military said on Friday, adding that the incident was not caused by “hostile fire,” even as deadly explosions rocked Tehran near a pro-government rally attended by top officials, as Israel and Iran unleashed new attacks in a war that has inflamed the Middle East and threatens to torpedo the global economy.
Additionally, President Donald Trump said the United States was going to hit Iran “very hard over the next week,” shortly after issuing a 30-day partial waiver for purchases of sanctioned Russian oil, hoping to ease prices driven by the US-Israel war against Iran.
Prices have been rocked by changes in Trump’s comments on the likely duration of the war, prompting Iran to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil.
Trump had previously said the war was “complete” and also promised to ensure the safety of ships in the strait. In a Fox News interview broadcast Friday, Trump said the United States would escort the shipments there “if necessary.”
Oil prices remained above $100 a barrel with no end in sight to the crude supply disruption, while stock markets fell.
With the conflict approaching its third week, stock markets fell further amid investor concerns about a prolonged crisis that could stoke inflation and hit the global economy.
The price of Brent crude oil, the benchmark international oil contract, fell below $100 during the day, sending stocks briefly higher.
But stocks fell again as Brent climbed back above the $100 mark.
plane crash
The incident, which took place on Thursday and involved a second plane that landed safely, brings the number of US troops killed in operations against Iran to at least 13.
“All six crew members aboard a US KC-135 refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq have been confirmed dead,” US Central Command (CENTCOM), responsible for US forces in the Middle East, said in a post on X.
An investigation into the crash is underway, the command said, adding that “the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile or friendly fire.”
The Iranian military said in an earlier statement carried on state television that an allied group in Iraq had shot down the plane with a missile, killing its entire crew.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is a loose alliance of Iraqi factions backed by Iran, claimed to have shot down a KC-135. They also said they had targeted another plane that escaped.
The KC-135 is at least the fourth US military aircraft lost during the war, after three F-15s were shot down by friendly fire over Kuwait.
demonstration in tehran
President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attended a rally in Tehran, while images shared by Iranian media showed the head of the judiciary being interviewed just as an explosion occurred.
Iranian security chief Ali Larijani ridiculed Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth’s claim that Iranian leaders were hiding “like rats,” noting that several senior officials, including the president, made public appearances at a rally in Tehran.
“Mr. Hegseth! Our leaders have been, and still are, among the people. But their leaders? On Epstein’s Island!” the senior Iranian official wrote in X, referring to the late sex offender who had close ties to rich and powerful people in the United States.
The US claim that Iranian leaders were hiding “like rats”, noting that several senior officials, including the president, made public appearances at a rally in Tehran.
France and Italy have begun talks with Iran to negotiate a deal to ensure the safe passage of their ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people briefed on the efforts.
Marines
The Pentagon is deploying a Marine Expeditionary Unit to the Middle East, a rapid response unit typically made up of about 2,500 Marines and sailors, three officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
Prize
The US government is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on key Iranian leaders, including new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
The reward, released by the State Department’s Justice Rewards Program, comes as the US and Israeli military campaign against Iran continues and after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials were assassinated.
supreme leader
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is injured and likely disfigured, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday, questioning Khamenei’s ability to govern after nearly two weeks of US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
No images of Khamenei have been released since an Israeli attack at the start of the war that killed much of his family, including his father and his wife.
His first comments came in a statement read by a television host on Thursday. In the statement, he vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed and called on neighboring countries to close US bases on their territory or risk being attacked by Iran.
“We know that the new not-so-supreme leader is injured and probably disfigured. He issued a statement yesterday. A weak statement, actually, but there was no voice or video. It was a written statement,” Hegseth said in a briefing.
Aircraft carrier
In a statement late Friday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had attacked the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln with missiles and drones, claiming the attack caused “significant damage” to the ship, according to an Al Jazeera post on X.
The Revolutionary Guard added that the aircraft carrier is “withdrawing toward the United States” following the alleged attack.
However, the US Central Command spokesperson told Al Jazeera that “the Revolutionary Guard’s claims that they targeted the Lincoln aircraft carrier are false”, denying any damage or operational impact to the ship.
