Iran’s Khamenei vows revenge on ‘enemies’ as US deploys 2,000+ Marines to region

Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, said Iran would strip its enemies of “security” in remarks printed by Iranian media and read on state television Friday.

Khamenei said Iran’s “external and internal enemies” would have their “security taken away.”

The statement came after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ main spokesman, Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini, was killed in an Israeli airstrike Friday, a development confirmed by Iranian state media.

The war has continued to expand regionally, with the US military sources on Friday confirming to Al-Monitor that the United States plans to deploy more than 2,200 US Marines to the Middle East. The Marines, which will travel on the USS Tripoli and its accompanying two warships, are part of a Marine Expeditionary Unit, which is equipped to carry out amphibious operations.

Oil prices remained high Friday, with crude hitting $110 per barrel, as Iran continued to pummel Gulf energy infrastructure, including launching fresh strikes on Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi refinery. Meanwhile, Axios reported that the Trump administration is considering plans to occupy or blockade Iran's Kharg Island to pressure Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz a week after the US struck military installations on the island. Kharg is a hub for 90% of Iranian oil exports.

Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday marking the end of Ramadan, began on Friday amid ongoing hostilities across the Middle East. In Jerusalem, the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound was closed for Eid prayers for the first time in decades, with strict gathering restrictions still in place.