Iran leaders defiant on Quds Day as US offers $10M bounty for Khamenei, others
Several Iranian leaders appeared in public at the Al-Quds Day march in Tehran on Friday despite the ongoing war and Israeli targeting of regime figures. President Massoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were among those who attended the annual rally in support of the Palestinian people. Ali Larijani, who leads Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, marched and addressed the crowd, saying the Israeli and US attacks reflect “fear and desperation.” Multiple explosions were heard in the vicinity, and state media outlets reported that at least one person was killed by shrapnel.
The US Justice Department announced on Friday it is offering rewards of up to $10 million for information on Iranian leaders, including new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei and Larijani. Khamenei has not been seen in public since succeeding his father last Sunday, and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Friday the new leader was “likely disfigured” in the US and Israeli strikes on the country.
The Israeli military said it struck 150 sites in western and central Iran on Friday, including storage centers for ballistic missiles and drones. Omani authorities said two foreigners were killed in a drone strike in an industrial area and Turkey’s Defense Ministry said NATO air defenses intercepted an Iranian missile in Turkish airspace.
Arab states’ frustration with Iran is rising. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi expressed his “categorical condemnation and rejection of Iran's targeting” of the region in a Friday call with Pezeshkian. Senior Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh told Reuters the same day that mediation can only occur when Iranian strikes on the region cease, saying, “It is difficult to talk about mediation when under attack.”
The US continues to incur losses in the conflict. CENTCOM said Friday that all six US military personnel were killed when a refueling aircraft went down in Iraq following a collision, bringing the total US military death toll in the conflict to 13.
The price of Brent crude oil was above $101 a barrel at 1:30 p.m. EST as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz wreaks havoc on energy markets. Hegseth said on Friday that the US would reopen the strategic waterway after CENTCOM stated the day prior that it had destroyed more than 50 of Iran's minelayer boats.
In Lebanon, local authorities said the death toll from Israeli strikes had risen to 773. Israel said it bombed Hezbollah facilities in the south, Bekaa Valley and Beirut on Friday, while the Iran-backed group reported it targeted Israeli soldiers near the border.