Live Updates: Trump demands Iran's "unconditional surrender" as Russia gives Tehran intel on U.S. positions

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that "the stakes could not be higher" amid the escalating violence in the Middle East and called on all parties to stop the fighting.

"All the unlawful attacks in the Middle East and beyond are causing tremendous suffering and harm to civilians throughout the region – and pose a grave a risk to the global economy, particularly to the most vulnerable people," he said in a statement on X. " The situation could spiral beyond anyone's control. It is time to stop the fighting and get to serious diplomatic negotiations."

In a phone interview with Axios, the president clarified that his demand for "unconditional surrender" might not necessarily entail a formal declaration from Iran.

"Unconditional surrender could be that [the Iranians] announce it. But it could also be when they can't fight any longer because they don't have anyone or anything to fight with," he told the outlet.

His earlier Truth Social post said that "There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"

Outside the White House, a reporter asked press secretary Karoline Leavitt about what President Trump meant by "unconditional surrender," specifically whether the regime "has to fully relinquish control" for the war to end.

"What the president means is that when he, as commander in chief of the U.S. armed forces, determines that Iran no longer poses a threat to the United States of America, and the goals of Operation Epic Fury have been fully realized, then Iran will essentially be in a place of unconditional surrender, whether they say it themselves or not," Leavitt said. 

"Frankly, they don't have a lot of people to say that for them, because the United States and the state of Israel have completely wiped out more than 50 leaders of the former terrorist regime, including the supreme leader himself," she added.

Sri Lanka gave refuge to more than 250 Iranian sailors two days after a deadly torpedo strike on another of Iran's ships by a U.S. submarine, the country's navy said.

Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said his country decided to take control of the IRIS Bushehr after discussions with Iranian officials and the ship's captain, after one of its engines failed.

"No civilians should die in wars. Our approach is that every single life is as precious as our own," he said on X. "We jealously guard our non-aligned policy while ensuring that humanitarian values and the saving of lives remain our top priority."

Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said 204 sailors were brought to its Welisara Naval Base, while about 15 others remain on board with Sri Lankan naval personnel.

Dissanayake urged for peace amid the escalating U.S.-Israeli campaign that led to Iranian retaliatory strikes in the Middle East.

"All our actions are aimed at saving lives and ensuring that humanity prevails," Dissanayake said.

The broadening Middle East conflict is putting strategically located Sri Lanka in a delicate position as it tries to balance humanitarian obligations, international maritime law and its longstanding policy of non-alignment.

CBS/AP

The former head of Israeli military intelligence told CBS News that no reasonable person in the Israeli government or military believes regime change is feasible right now in Iran. 

Amos Yadlin presided over what he called the original plans for the Iran assault. He said the campaign appears to be reaching critical mass in terms of damaging Iranian missile and nuclear capabilities, but that even if 99% of Iran's capacity is destroyed, it will only buy about three to four years of quiet.

Israeli military planners have used the term "mowing the grass" to describe the cyclical nature of Israel's wars on Gaza, and Israeli officials believe that same strategy will be applied to Iran going forward, according to Yadlin.

The price of oil continued to surge on Friday amid growing concerns that the Iran war will disrupt global crude supplies. 

West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. oil benchmark, rose almost 11% to $89.89 per barrel on Friday afternoon, according to data from Factset. Brent crude, the international benchmark, jumped 7.7% to $92.06. Both were trading near their highest levels since April 2024.

Crude prices jumped on Friday after Qatar's energy minister suggested that all Gulf energy exporters may shut down production within days, which could drive Brent crude to $150 a barrel, the Financial Times reported. 

Oil had already jumped earlier in the week as tankers transporting oil and liquefied natural gas have been halted through the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20% of global oil shipments normally travel.

"The market is shifting from pricing pure geopolitical risk to grappling with tangible operational disruption, as refinery shutdowns and export constraints begin to impair crude processing and regional supply flows," JPMorgan analysts said in a report on Friday. 

Surging oil prices are pushing up costs at the gas pump. In the U.S., the national average gas price has jumped 32 cents a gallon over the last seven days, to roughly $3.31 a gallon — the highest since August of 2024, according to GasBuddy. 

More than 300,000 people in Lebanon have been forced to flee after Israel launched a wave of evacuation orders and airstrikes, the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said on Friday.

The orders covered hundreds of villages in southern Lebanon, as well as villages in the Bekka region and the southern suburbs of Beirut. The number of people who could be displaced potentially exceeds one million, the group said.

"Families who had barely begun rebuilding their lives are now forced to flee once again," said Maureen Philippon, country director for NRC in Lebanon. "People left their homes in the middle of the night with nothing but the clothes they were wearing. Once again, civilians are paying the highest price. If implemented, the latest evacuation orders from Israel could yet produce a humanitarian crisis unlike anything we have seen in over two years." 

The organisation insisted that civilians be protected, including those who choose to remain or are not able to relocate.

After the attacks by the U.S. and Israel on Iran, Hezbollah launched missiles and drones into Israel on Monday for the first time in over a year. Israel has retaliated by bombarding southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.

Lebanon's health ministry said Friday at least 217 people had been killed and 798 wounded.

U.S. and Israeli airstrikes alone are unlikely to result in the ouster of the Iranian government, according to an expert in air campaigns, who said that the risks are growing for a more drawn-out war that could spread beyond the Middle East.

Robert Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago who has studied air power for three decades, told CBS News 24/7 that history does not support the idea that bombing alone can unseat a regime and install a more friendly leader.

"The fact of the matter is, for over a century, states have been trying to topple regimes with air power alone and — I'm choosing my words carefully — it has never worked," Pape told CBS News 24/7 on Friday. "We are heading toward the predictable result of growing risk, growing escalation. And I'm sorry to say this could go on for quite some time."

Read more here.

Russia is providing intelligence to Iran on U.S. positions, three sources confirmed to CBS News on Friday, including a senior U.S. official with direct knowledge.

Earlier Friday, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters that Russia's government is in "dialogue" with representatives of the Iranian leadership. Peskov's comments came after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Russia and China were assisting Iran politically and "in other ways."

The Washington Post was the first to report.

Asked about the reports, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "It clearly is not making a difference with respect to the military operations in Iran, because we are completely decimating them." 

Read more here.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the ongoing military escalation in the Middle East must not lead to the collapse of the Iranian state and warned it would have far-reaching consequences on migration to Europe.

He said he doesn't want to see a "Syrian scenario" in Iran, referring to Syria's long civil war.

"An endless war is not in our interest. The same applies to a collapse of Iranian statehood or proxy conflicts fought on Iranian soil," he said in a statement.

Merz said that while his government shares the same goals as the U.S. and Israel regarding the Iranian nuclear and missile program, "we want this state to be capable of functioning by itself."

"The Iranian people have the right to freely decide their own destiny," Merz said.

He said his appeal in his discussions with the U.S. and Israel is "to create as quickly as possible the preconditions for this country to be stabilized, for it to get a democratically legitimized government and for it to continue to exist as a state."

"We naturally have a strong interest in this ourselves in order to avoid new waves of refugees from the region," he said.

CBS/AFP

The State Department says it has "directly assisted" nearly 13,000 Americans in the Middle East, although those numbers aren't broken down into how many Americans it has directly evacuated.

Nearly 24,000 American citizens have returned to the U.S. from the Middle East since the war began, according to  Dylan Johnson, assistant secretary of state. 

"These figures do not include the many Americans who have safely relocated to other countries or those who have departed the Middle East but are still in transit back to the United States," Johnson said, adding, "Through the State Department's 24/7 Task Force, we have directly assisted nearly 13,000 Americans abroad, offering security guidance and travel assistance."

Johnson said the State Department "will continue to actively assist" any Americans who wish to leave the Middle East, and is doing so with charter flights and ground transport travel assistance. 

The State Department and the Trump administration have been criticized for not immediately evacuating Americans when the U.S. struck Iran, or before. 

Americans in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Israel are asked to fill out a crisis intake form. 

American citizen Shirley Bejarano said she has been in Doha for almost a week and that no evacuation plan has been provided to her by the U.S. government. 

Bejarano told CBS News she had been trying to pass through the Qatari capital, on a long layover, while traveling to Colombia for her grandfather's funeral. Her flight left Doha on Saturday morning but turned around after two hours in the air, apparently as the Iran conflict started. 

She told CBS News she has called the State Department and the U.S. embassy, and filled out a STEP form, looking to leave the country.

"I've done everything to get information and when I do call the embassy or the Department of State, any of these numbers that have been provided, they just say, 'Shelter in place. OK. We have your information. We'll send it up,'" she said.

At one point, Bejarano said she was told, "I don't know what's going on there. I don't have any further information to give you."

Anyone who has left has done so on their own, going by land, she said.

Qatar is among the countries in the region that have closed their airspace. 

Qatar Airways "has been absolutely incredible taking care of all of us," Bejarano said, adding that the airline and the Qatari government "have been supporting anyone who has needed accommodations, so we've been here fully for free."

Iranian Kurdish opposition factions massed along Iraq's border would love to stage a ground invasion, but for it to be successful, they would benefit hugely from U.S. backup in the skies. 

President Trump has said such a Kurdish ground offensive would be "wonderful," but it's unclear how much support his administration is willing to offer.

A leader of the lightly-armed Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) told CBS News the group is in contact with the U.S. government, and it sees an opportunity to topple the regime in Tehran.

"We have the same goal," Amanj Zabtaee, part of the KDPI's leadership committee, told CBS News' Holly Williams. "This is why we could be help to each other."

He said if the U.S. does lend air support for a ground incursion, "it will be great. But if it doesn't happen, it doesn't mean that we will be less committed to our cause." 

Read the full story here.

The Israel Defense Forces said Friday that five soldiers were severely injured as a result of projectile fire toward Israeli territory near the Lebanese border. Three others suffered lesser injuries and all were evacuated for treatment.

Israel's defense minister said one of the injured soldiers is the son of Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right member of Netanyahu's governing coalition.

The IDF has been bombarding Beirut and parts of southern Lebanon, which has been a stronghold of Iran-backed Hezbollah forces. Israel urged residents in southern Lebanon to flee the area.

In a statement, the Israeli military said, "The IDF has attacked more than 500 targets in Lebanon, eliminated more than 70 Hezbollah terrorists and carried out more than 20 waves of attacks on Beirut."

By: Michal Ben-Gal

As thousands of Americans have left the Middle East and thousands more are trying to depart, President Trump said the U.S. is "seamlessly" moving Americans to safety. 

"We are moving thousands of people out of various countries throughout the Middle East," he said on Truth Social. "It is being done quietly, but seamlessly. The State Department, under Secretary Marco Rubio, is doing a great job!"

As of Thursday, the State Department said nearly 20,000 Americans returned from the Middle East, a number that is expected to continue to climb. 

President Trump is meeting with the CEOs of major defense companies at the White House on Friday in a meeting the administration says was scheduled weeks ago. 

The White House says the U.S. has "more than enough" weapons at its disposal for the ongoing war, something the Pentagon has been saying all week as well. 

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. "President Trump has always been intensely focused on strengthening our military, which is why this meeting with defense contractors was scheduled weeks ago. The president will continue to call on these U.S. companies to more speedily build American-made weapons, which are the absolute best in the world."

The defense companies meeting with the president include:

• Lockheed Martin
• Northrop Grumman 
• RTX Corporation
• Boeing 
• Honeywell
• L3Harris Technologies

Reuters first reported the meeting. 

Israel's military said Friday that it destroyed a large-scale underground bunker Iranian leaders had planned to use in emergencies, deploying more than 50 fighter jets and 100 munitions.

The bunker was located under several residential neighborhoods in Tehran, the Israel Defense Forces said.

"The destruction of the bunker is another and severe blow to the regime's ability to maintain stable functioning and deepens its appeal," it said in a statement.

Iran has spent decades constructing underground bunkers for a range of purposes and contingencies. Many of them have been targeted this week.

After strikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other leaders, Israel's military has continued to strike their infrastructure. Israel's military said its targets have included the Supreme National Security Council's building — the meeting place for the country's top security forum — as well as a Revolutionary Guard military academy.

CBS/AP

The U.S. military shared a video late Thursday that it says shows an Iranian drone carrier being struck in the Iran conflict.

"U.S. forces aren't holding back on the mission to sink the entire Iranian Navy," U.S. Central Command said in a post on X. "Today, an Iranian drone carrier, roughly the size of a WWII aircraft carrier, was struck and is now on fire."

President Trump has said one of the objectives of the campaign against Iran is to annihilate Iran's navy. U.S. officials said earlier this week that the operation has destroyed more than 20 Iranian naval vessels and a submarine. An American submarine also sank an Iranian warship.

Four men were arrested in London on Friday on suspicion of spying for Iran, according to the Metropolitan Police.

Counterterrorism police with the force apprehended the men in the early hours of Friday morning at addresses in Barnet and Watford, on London's northern outskirts, the Metropolitan Police, or Met, said.

The investigation centered on "suspected surveillance of locations and individuals linked to the Jewish community" in London, according to a statement from the police.

"Today's arrests are part of a long-running investigation and part of our ongoing work to disrupt malign activity where we suspect it," said Commander Helen Flanagan, the Met's counter-terror chief.

Read more here.

An airplane emblazoned with the New England Patriots' logo has been used to bring stranded Americans home from the Middle East.

Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for public affairs, shared a photo on X of Americans boarding the Patriots plane, at least the second such flight that landed at Dulles International Airport outside Washington on Friday.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft is a friend and supporter of President Trump, but his football franchise did not arrange or pay for the flight.

"One of the companies the State Department contracted for charter flights also manages the New England Patriots team plane. This flight was entirely paid for by the State Department. The New England Patriots organization was not involved in this flight," the State Department said.

CBS/AP

Israeli airstrikes pounded the capitals of Iran and Lebanon on Friday, intensifying its campaign targeting the Islamic Republic. The U.S. apparently struck an Iranian drone carrier at sea.

Iran launched new retaliatory attacks against neighboring countries that host U.S. forces. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The latest strikes mark a full week of attacks affecting countries across the Middle East.

This map shows the latest documented strikes by the U.S., Israel and Iran.

UNICEF said Friday that it is deeply concerned about the impact of the ongoing military escalation in Iran on children.

It said about 180 children have been killed and many more injured so far, which is a "stark reminder of the brutality of war and violence on children."

"Children and schools are protected under International Humanitarian Law and must be places of safety," UNICEF said in a statement. "As military strikes continue across the region, children are increasingly exposed to violence and the impact on essential civilian infrastructure poses a direct threat to their wellbeing."

The organization called on all parties to uphold their obligations under international and ensure the protection of civilians. It said that it is closely monitoring the situation and stands ready to support humanitarian efforts.

President Trump said Friday that there would be no deal with Iran except if there is "UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER!"

"After that, and the selection of a GREAT & ACCEPTABLE Leader(s), we, and many of our wonderful and very brave allies and partners, will work tirelessly to bring Iran back from the brink of destruction, making it economically bigger, better, and stronger than ever before," Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social. "IRAN WILL HAVE A GREAT FUTURE. 'MAKE IRAN GREAT AGAIN (MIGA!)'"

Mr. Trump has said multiple times that whoever takes over leadership of Iran must be to the U.S.'s liking.

Thousands of men and women took part in a demonstration in the streets of Tehran on Friday, in a show of defiance against the U.S. and Israel.

Waving clenched fists and Iranian flags and holding images of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the marchers chanted, "We'll fight, we'll die, we won't accept humiliation" and "No compromise, no surrender, destruction of Israel."

Hassan Fathollahi, 54, told the Associated Press that he had brought his children to "make our enemies understand that we and our children will sacrifice our lives for the (Islamic) revolution."

"We will not give up the blood of our leader. Every single son of Iran is ready to fight America and Israel until victory, God willing," he said.

CBS/AP

Russia's government is in a dialogue with Iran's leadership and will continue that dialogue, Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters Friday during a regular briefing.

"We are in dialogue with representatives of the Iranian leadership, and we will certainly continue this dialogue," Peskov told reporters, responding to a question about how Russia is assisting its ally Iran. 

He spoke after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Russia and China were assisting Iran politically and "in other ways."

Peskov said Moscow was seeing "a significant increase in demand for Russian energy resources" due to the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Those were the only comments Peskov made in relation to Iran at his Friday briefing. 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian claimed in a brief post on social media earlier Friday that some countries had "begun mediation efforts" as the war against his nation continued, but he provided no further information about those efforts or which nations were involved.

The national average gas price in the U.S. is continuing to rise, hitting $3.32 on Friday, according to AAA. That's up from $3.25 on Thursday.

The national average was $2.90 a month ago and $3.11 a year ago.

Before the uptick, gas prices had been sliding for months and dipped below $3 in December. They started rising before last weekend, on the possibility of the U.S. launching attacks on Iran.

"The actual attacks themselves, obviously, are a major escalation," said Patrick De Haan, a petroleum expert at GasBuddy.

De Haan told CBS News he expected the price of gas to keep rising over the next week before the pace of price hikes starts to moderate.

Despite ongoing U.S.-Israeli strikes against its launch capabilities and claims from Washington and Tel Aviv that its offensive capacity is being rapidly reduced, Iran was still firing missiles and dozens of drones at U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf on Friday. 

Sirens reportedly sounded in Kuwait City hours after the Iranian Army claimed to be unleashing "a large volume of Army attack drones" against "U.S. positions" in Kuwait.

The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, said it had "detected and intercepted 9 ballistic missiles. Additionally, 112 drones were detected, of which 109 were intercepted, while 3 fell within UAE territory."

"Since the start of the Iranian attacks, 205 ballistic missiles have been tracked, with 190 destroyed, 13 falling into the sea, and 2 impacting within UAE territory. Meanwhile, 1,184 Iranian drones were detected, 1,110 intercepted, and 74 fell on UAE soil. Eight cruise missiles were also detected and destroyed," the UAE's Ministry of Defense said in its statement, shared on social media.

The UAE said earlier this week that Iranian strikes had killed three people in the country, Pakistani, Nepali, and Bangladeshi nationals, and left at least 112 people with minor injuries as of Friday.

The Ministry of Defense "emphasized that it remains fully prepared and ready to respond to any threats, protect national security and sovereignty, and ensure the safety and stability of the country." 

Two regional officials told CBS News' Margaret Brennan on Thursday that America's Persian Gulf allies were running dangerously low on interceptors to take down Iranian weapons.

Israeli military said Friday that it had destroyed the military bunker of Iran's supreme leader in the heart of Tehran, with strikes involving dozens of Israeli fighter jets. 

Longtime Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the initial wave of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, "before he could use the bunker," the statement from the Israel Defense Forces said, but it added that the underground compound remained "one of the Iranian leadership's most important military command centers."

"Targeting the bunker further degrades the regime's command and control capabilities," the IDF said, adding that "approximately 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets guided by precise IDF intelligence" carried out the early morning mission to destroy the compound.

"It spanned multiple streets in the heart of Tehran and contained numerous entrances and meeting rooms for senior members of the Iranian terrorist regime," the IDF said, sharing video it said showed the operation from several angles.

The United Nations on Friday demanded swift investigations into fatal Israeli strikes across Lebanon to determine whether they violate international law.

"The devastating impact of this renewed conflict is already before our eyes, with civilians paying a painfully heavy price," U.N. rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told reporters in Geneva. "We urge the parties to step back from the brink of a major escalation of this conflict in Lebanon."

Her comments came as fresh Israeli strikes battered Lebanon, where Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned "a humanitarian disaster is looming" due to mass displacement.

Shamdasani warned that "Israel's military ground incursions into southern Lebanon, blanket displacement orders for the population in Beirut's southern suburbs, the Bekaa region and the full area to the south of the Litani river, and its continued air strikes on different parts of the country, are bringing more misery and suffering to an already weary civilian population."

"These warnings and displacement orders issued for the south of Lebanon reportedly affected more than 100 towns and villages — home to tens of thousands of people, and risk affecting many more," she said.

"In addition, on Thursday, the Israeli army urged the complete evacuation of almost the entire southern suburb of Beirut, creating fear and panic among residents, as well as the Bekaa region in eastern Lebanon."

Shamdasani warned that in all, "hundreds of thousands have now been affected by these Israeli displacement orders," cautioning that they risked amounting to "prohibited forced displacement" under international law.

CBS/AFP

Iran fired another salvo of missiles at Israel on Friday, the Israeli military said, after it announced a fresh wave of strikes targeting the Iranian regime in Tehran.

The Israel Defense Forces said in its latest alert — of which there have been many thousands during the nearly-week-long war — that it had detected missiles "recently launched from Iran towards the territory of the State of Israel," adding that defense systems were "working to intercept the threat."

It urged people to heed warnings sent from the Israeli Home Front Command directly to people's cell phones "in the relevant areas."

The vast majority of Iran's missiles and drones targeting Israel are intercepted, but at least 10 people have been killed by weapons that have slipped through the country's air defenses so far, and three others have died in related incidents, according to data compiled by the independent Israeli Institute for National Security Studies think tank.

The ongoing U.S.-Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,200 people in Iran over the last seven days, according to the Islamic Republic's health ministry.

Israeli officials told reporters on Friday that President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu have been speaking with each other daily during the war.

The officials said the joint operations against Iran have thus far gone as planned, with cracks appearing in the Iranian regime, but they added that "it may take time" to achieve objectives.

By: Michal Ben-Gal

Qatar's foreign ministry on Friday condemned "in the strongest terms" an Iranian strike that it said hit buildings in the tiny neighboring kingdom of Bahrain that were housing Qatari naval forces.

The statement said the Qatari troops were taking part in the Unified Military Command of the regional Gulf Cooperation Council, calling the Iranian strike a "dangerous escalation" and "a blatant act of aggression and a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Bahrain and a direct threat to its security and stability and the security of the region."

The Qatari ministry said all of its personnel at the scene of the strike were safe and there were no injuries. 

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian claimed in a brief post on social media Friday that some, unidentified countries had "begun mediation efforts" as the U.S.-Israeli war against his nation continued apace. 

"Let's be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region yet we have no hesitation in defending our nation's dignity & sovereignty. Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict," Pezeshkian said.

Pezeshkian, long considered a relatively moderate member of Iran's government, did not provide any further detail, and the country's military commanders have issued statements in recent days suggesting no interest in a negotiated end to the war. 

President Trump told NBC News on Thursday that the objective of the joint U.S.-Israeli war against Iran was to "go in and clean out" the country's theocratic leadership. He added, however, that he had some ideas about who within Iran might make a "good leader," and that the U.S. was taking unspecified measures to keep those individuals alive during the war.

Several Gulf nations were directly involved in brokering indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, which were abruptly cut off when the U.S. and Israel launched their attack on Feb. 28. 

CBS News has sought comment from officials in Doha, Qatar, which was a key broker in those talks, along with contacts in Tehran and Oman's capital Muscat, about Pezeshkian's claim of new "mediation efforts."

The Iranian Army claimed Friday to be unleashing "a large volume of Army attack drones" that it said were "hitting U.S. positions" in Kuwait.

"Over the past hours, various types of attack drones from the Ground Forces carried out concentrated strikes on U.S. bases in Kuwait," the army said in a post on social media, adding that the "attacks will continue in the coming hours."

There were no immediate reports of incoming drones in Kuwait, but the small U.S. Gulf ally has been struck repeatedly by Iranian drones and missiles since the war began almost a week ago — including the drone strike on the first day of the conflict that killed six U.S. troops at a military installation. 

Four men were arrested in the U.K. capital Friday on suspicion of spying for Iran, according to the London Metropolitan Police. Counterterror officers apprehended the men — one Iranian and three dual British-Iranian nationals — in the early hours of Friday morning in the northern suburbs of Barnet and Watford, the force said.

The investigation centred on "suspected surveillance of locations and individuals linked to the Jewish community" in London, according to a press release.

"Today's arrests are part of a long-running investigation and part of our ongoing work to disrupt malign activity where we suspect it," said Commander Helen Flanagan, the Met's counterterror chief.

The men were 55, 52, 40 and 22, according to the police statement. Six others were arrested on suspicion of assisting the alleged offenders, and another was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer.

Sam Vinograd, a former DHS assistant secretary for counterterrorism and threat protection, told CBS News this week that Iran represents a "multi-dimensional threat" to the U.S. homeland, with a "deep bench of players they tap into to inflict damage," including proxies — regional, like-minded terrorist organizations — along with state agents. 

Iran has developed what she called "surrogate networks here in the United States — regular criminals that they actually hire and pay money to do things like murders and assassinations."

Explosions were reported in Tehran and Beirut on Friday after Israel's military announced a new "wave of strikes" in both cities, stepping up its war against both the Iranian regime and Hezbollah, one of its most powerful regional proxy groups, in Lebanon.

An Israeli military official said strikes were targeting "the terrorist regime's infrastructure" in Tehran, while in Lebanon's capital, they said there were "several waves of strikes" in the Dahieh neighborhood of Beirut against Hezbollah targets, following "extensive calls on the civilian population in the area to evacuate in order to reduce civilian casualties."

The military official said more than 500 targets were hit in Lebanon, "including senior Hezbollah terrorists," rocket launchers, and command and weapons storage facilities.

Israel claims to have achieved "near-complete air superiority" over Iran, as the ongoing joint strikes with the U.S. entered their seventh day. Israel says those strikes have destroyed more than 80% of Iran's air defense systems.

"We're destroying more of Iran's missiles and drone capability every single hour," President Trump said Thursday, calling Iranian forces "tough" but badly weakened.

Still, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi says the fight is far from over, and insists Tehran is "not asking for a ceasefire."

As Iranian drones and missiles continue to target U.S. allies across the Gulf, sirens blared again Friday across Kuwait City, where operations at the U.S. Embassy were suspended the previous day.

President Trump has said the objective of the war against Iran is to "go in and clean out" the country's theocratic leadership. In a phone interview with NBC News, Mr. Trump also said he has some ideas about who would be a "good leader" there.

"We want to go in and clean out everything," he said. "We don't want someone who would rebuild over a 10-year period."

The president added that the U.S. was taking measures to try to assure that the people he has in mind survive the war, without offering any details.

Mr. Trump said earlier that he'd "have to be involved" in the appointment of Iran's next leader, calling the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has been mentioned as a possible successor, an "unacceptable" option and a "lightweight." 

Speaking Monday at the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said the U.S. operation was "laser-focused: destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons."

He rejected criticism of the operation as the beginning of another "endless war" in the Middle East and insisted it was "not a so-called regime-change war."

"But the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it today," Hegseth said.

NATO has "increased its alliance-wide ballistic missile defense posture" in the wake of the interception of a missile that was launched toward Turkey on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the alliance said.

"This immediate action was taken by the commander of NATO's Air Command, who further recommended NATO's ballistic missile defense posture remain at this heightened level until the threat from Iran's continued indiscriminate attacks across the region subsides," the spokesperson said, adding that "the adjustment gives the Supreme Allied Commander Europe exactly what he needs to defend the alliance based upon the current threat and defend it he will!"

"As the world witnessed yesterday, NATO perfectly executed its ballistic missile defense procedures. In less than 10 minutes, NATO service members identified a threat to allies, a ballistic missile, confirmed its trajectory, alerted land- and sea-based missile defense systems, and launched an interceptor to defeat the threat and protect our territory and its people," the statement continued. "That is real strength!"

Turkey is a NATO ally, and the missile attack raised questions about whether the alliance would invoke Article V of the NATO charter, which states that a strike against one member should be considered an attack against all.

Saudi Arabia's defense ministry reported early Friday that it intercepted three Iranian drones east of its capital, Riyadh.

On Monday, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh was targeted by an Iranian drone attack which caused a small fire and minor damage, the defense ministry said. There were no reported injuries. 

According to Israel's private Institute for National Security Studies, Saudi Arabia has been targeted by 14 missiles and five drones since the war began. 

Qatari officials announced early Friday morning local time that their military stopped an Iranian drone targeting the Al Udeid airbase in Doha.

The Qatari Ministry of Defense said in a statement that its defense forces "successfully intercepted a drone attack" targeting Al Udeid, which is the largest U.S. base in the Middle East with about 8,000 to 10,000 U.S. troops. 

Qatari's defense ministry had reported Thursday that the country was targeted by 14 ballistic missiles and four drones from Iran. All but one of the missiles were intercepted, with the remaining missile landing in ocean waters.

The U.S. Embassy in Qatar on Wednesday announced that the State Department had ordered all non-emergency government employees and their families to leave Qatar. The embassy said it was under a shelter-in-place order for all remaining emergency personnel.

"To the extent possible, remain inside your residence, hotel, or another structure, and stay away from windows," the embassy said.