Trump backs Kurdish entry to war as Israel orders mass Beirut evacuation

Amid conflicting reports about potential Kurdish involvement in the expanding war, President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would welcome their participation.

"I think it's wonderful that they want to do that, I'd be all for it," Trump told Reuters. He declined to say whether the US would provide or had offered air support for such an endeavor. Al-Monitor cited a source as saying on Wednesday that such a development could take place "within days."

Hours earlier, Trump told Axios that he must be involved in selecting Iran’s next supreme leader, dismissing the slain Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba, who has emerged as a leading contender.

The saber-rattling continues, with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi saying on Thursday that the regime is ready to confront US ground troops should they invade.

Bahrain News Agency reported that a BAPCO Energies refinery unit was hit by an Iranian missile in Ma’ameer, while the UAE also said it was intercepting projectiles fired from Iran. Videos circulating on social media appeared to show an explosion near Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport.

In a first, two drone strikes hit Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan on Thursday. An Azerbaijani official said they were launched from Iranian territory.

In another major development, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam ordered authorities to block any military or security activity by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and to arrest and deport operatives. Israel issued large-scale evacuation orders in the southern suburbs of Beirut on Thursday, causing widespread panic and chaos.