Iran's secretive top leader vows to keep up attacks in his first statement since being appointed

The statement signaled a willingness to continue the war that has disrupted global energy supplies, international travel and the relative safety enjoyed by the Gulf Arab states.

Israel says strikes killed top nuclear scientists

U.S. and Israeli strikes have exacted a heavy toll on Iran’s leadership, military and ballistic missile program but have failed to topple the government, which U.S. President Donald Trump has at times suggested is his goal.

On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli attacks had killed top Iranian nuclear scientists.

The U.S. and Israel say that destroying whatever remains of Iran’s nuclear program is one of the central aims of the war. They have long suspected Iran seeks nuclear weapons, while the Islamic Republic says its nuclear program is peaceful.

At a news conference, Netanyahu denounced Iran’s new supreme leader as a “puppet of the Revolutionary Guards” who cannot appear in public. And he addressed the Iranian people, calling this a moment for a “new path of freedom."

But “at the end of the day, it depends on you. It is in your hands,” he added. “We are creating the optimal conditions for the fall of the regime."

Israel said earlier it struck a nuclear facility in Iran in recent days that it had destroyed with an airstrike in October 2024. Earlier this year, satellite photos raised concerns that Iran was working to restore the facility.

As Netanyahu spoke, the Israeli military said it had detected a new barrage of missiles launched from Iran toward Israel.

Trump says rising oil prices are a lower priority

Iran is trying to inflict enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to halt their bombardment, which began on Feb. 28.

Trump has promised to “finish the job,” even though he claimed Iran is “virtually destroyed.” He said in a social media post Thursday that ensuring Iran does not develop a nuclear weapon was a higher priority than soaring oil prices.

The U.S. military said Thursday that American forces have now struck more than 6,000 targets since the operation against Iran began, including more than 30 minelaying vessels.

Meanwhile, Iran-backed Hezbollah militants launched some 200 rockets from Lebanon at northern Israel while sirens rang out and loud booms from the interception of Iranian missiles could be heard in other areas. Israel launched another wave of attacks on Tehran and in Lebanon.

The U.N. refugee agency said up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced by the ongoing war. It said most have fled from Tehran and other major cities toward the north of the country or rural areas. Around 800,000 people have been internally displaced in Lebanon, prompting fears of a humanitarian crisis.

Khamenei warns of ‘opening other fronts’ if war continues

Khamenei called on Gulf Arabs to “shut down” U.S. bases in the region, saying protection promised by Washington was “nothing more than a lie.”

He also said Iran has studied “opening other fronts in which the enemy has little experience and would be highly vulnerable” if the war continues. He did not elaborate, but Iran has been linked to previous attacks on U.S., Israeli and Jewish targets around the world.

Khamenei is close to Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and is widely seen as even less compromising than his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. His location is unknown, and he is likely a prime target for the U.S. and Israel.

In addition to attacking energy infrastructure across the region, Iran has also effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway leading from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean through which a fifth of the world's traded oil flows.

At a news conference Thursday, Iran’s ambassador to Tunisia, Mir Masoud Hosseinian, said Iranian naval forces “have established full control” over the strait and "carried out precise strikes in response to attacks on our oil infrastructure.”

“Global energy security is contingent on respect for Iran’s sovereignty,” he said.

He told The Associated Press the attacks on Gulf nations have also been strategic.

“Even when we targeted hotels, we had precise information that they were hosting American and Israeli soldiers,” he said.

The war sent oil prices back to $100 per barrel, and stocks sank worldwide.

Israel and Hezbollah trade heavy fire

It was a sleepless night for many in Israel and Lebanon as Hezbollah launched some 200 rockets into Israel, according to the Israeli military. Israeli warplanes carried out simultaneous airstrikes on areas in Beirut’s southern suburbs and struck a car near the capital.

“The noise was extraordinary, it was really scary,” said Naama Porat, a resident of the rural Israeli community of Klil, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Lebanese border. As the sound of explosions rang out, she dashed with her son to a shelter.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon that if its government does not prevent Hezbollah from attacking, Israel “will take the territory and do it ourselves.”

Lebanon’s government has ramped up calls for Hezbollah to disarm since the group’s last war with Israel was halted by a 2024 ceasefire, and earlier this month declared Hezbollah’s military activities illegal. But it has been reluctant to confront the militants directly.

Israel strikes building in central Beirut

Later Thursday, the Israeli military struck a building in a busy residential and commercial district in central Beirut after issuing a warning for residents to evacuate. The strike hit in a neighborhood that is close to Lebanon’s parliament, United Nations offices and international embassies.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said they were targeting a “facility affiliated with Hezbollah.”

Israel’s military on Thursday warned residents of an even larger area of southern Lebanon to leave their homes.

An Israeli strike also hit in the vicinity of Lebanon’s only public university, killing a professor and the director of the faculty of sciences at the campus in Hadath, on the outskirts of Beirut’s southern suburbs. There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Iran fires at Gulf Arab countries and hits ship in Persian Gulf

British officials said several U.S. personnel were injured Wednesday night in drone strikes in northern Iraq.

Brig. Guy Foden said a number of drones hit a base in Irbil that houses both British and American troops. Another officer, Lt. Gen. Nick Perry, said there were no British casualties, while the U.S. sustained some casualties but “nothing too serious.”

More drone strikes were also reported in Bahrain, Kuwait, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking in Turkey, called for de-escalation and dialogue to end the war, saying that "as always, the most vulnerable are being hurt first and worst.”

Melzer reported from Mitzpe Hila, Israel. Rising reported from Bangkok, and Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writers Ghaya Ben Mbarek in Tunis, Tunisia; Sally Abou AlJoud and Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut; and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.