Explosions rock Tehran as Iranian top leadership attends Quds Day rally; IRGC says targeted Abraham Lincoln
Ali Larijani joins a Quds Day march in Tehran, hours after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed Iranian leaders were ‘hiding like rats’. Photo: Courtesy X
DUBAI/BEIRUT/JERUSALEM/LONDON:
A US KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft crashed in western Iraq, killing all six crew members, the US military said on Friday, adding that the incident was not caused by “hostile fire” even as deadly explosions rocked Tehran close to a pro-government rally attended by top officials, as Israel and Iran unleashed fresh strikes in a war that has ignited the Middle East and threatens to torpedo the world economy.
Moreover, President Donald Trump said the US was going to be hitting Iran “very hard over the next week”, shortly after issuing a partial 30-day waiver for purchases of sanctioned Russian oil, hoping to ease prices fuelled by the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Prices have been whipsawing on Trump’s changing comments on the likely duration of the war, which has prompted Iran to attack vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for a fifth of the world’s oil.
Trump has previously said the war is “complete”, and also promised to guarantee the safety of vessels in the strait. In a Fox News interview aired on Friday, Trump said the US would escort shipping there “if we needed to”.
Oil prices stayed over $100 per barrel with no end in sight to the disruption in supplies of crude, while stock markets slid lower.
With the conflict heading towards its third week, equity markets fell further amid investor worries about an extended crisis that could fan inflation and hammer the global economy.
The price of Brent crude, the benchmark international oil contract, dipped below $100 during the day, sending equities briefly higher.
But stocks slid back into the red as Brent climbed back above the $100 mark.
Plane crash
The incidentwhich took place Thursday and involved a second plane that landed safelybrings 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 went down in western Iraq are now confirmed deceased,” US Central Command (CENTCOM), which is responsible for American forces in the Middle East, said in a post on X.
An investigation was underway into the crash, the command said, adding that “the loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
Iran’s military said in an earlier statement carried by state TV that an allied group in Iraq had downed the aircraft with a missile, killing all its crew.
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is a loose alliance of Iran-backed Iraqi factions, claimed to have downed 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.
Tehran rally
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 a blast occurred.
Iranian security chief Ali Larijani ridiculed Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth’s claim that Iranian leaders were hiding “like rats”, highlighting that several top 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 your leaders? On Epstein’s island!” the top Iranian official wrote on X, referring to the late sex offender who had close ties to rich and powerful people in the US.
US’s claim that Iranian leaders were hiding “like rats”, highlighting that several top officials, including the president, made public appearances at a rally in Tehran.
France and Italy have opened talks with Iran seeking to negotiate a deal to guarantee safe passage for 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 comprised of around 2,500 Marines and sailors, three officials familiar with the matter told CNN.
Reward
The US government is offering a reward of up to $10 million for information on key Iranian leaders, including the new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
The bounty, posted by the State Department’s Rewards for Justice Program, comes as the US and Israeli military campaign against Iran continues and after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top Iranian officials were killed.
Supreme leader
Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded and likely disfigured, United States Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday, questioning Khamenei’s ability to govern after nearly two weeks of US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
No images have been released of Khamenei since an Israeli strike at the start of the war that killed much of his family, including his father and wife.
His first comments came in a statement read out by a television presenter on Thursday. In the statement, he vowed to keep the Strait of Hormuz shut and called on neighboring countries to close US bases on their territory or risk Iran targeting them.
“We know the new so-called not so supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured. He put out a statement yesterday. A weak one, actually, but there was no voice and there was no video. It was a written statement,” Hegseth told a briefing.
Aircraft carrier
In a late Friday night statement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln with missiles and drones, claiming the strike caused “major damage” to the vessel, according to an Al Jazeera post on X.
The Revolutionary Guard added that the aircraft carrier is now “withdrawing toward America” following the alleged attack.
However, the spokesperson for the US Central Command told Al Jazeera that “the Revolutionary Guard’s claims of targeting the Lincoln aircraft carrier are false,” denying any damage or operational impact on the vessel.
