The new supreme leader of Iran has spoken, his first statement
since assuming power read out by a news anchor on state
television, his face displayed on a photograph on the screen
behind her, his own voice absent.
He vowed vengeance. He vowed the Strait of Hormuz
stays closed. He told Gulf states to remove
American military bases or keep taking Iranian fire.
He said Iran had studied opening new fronts in which the enemy
has little experience. He did not elaborate.
Within hours of that statement, Donald Trump posted on Truth
Social. He said the United States has
unparalleled firepower, unlimited ammunition and plenty
of time. He called Iranian leaders
deranged scumbags. He said it was a great honor to
be killing them. Then AUS Air Force KC135
Stratotanker crashed in western Iraq for crew members dead, Two
more unaccounted for. The 4th US aircraft loss since
the war began. Oil crossed $100 a barrel and
Pete Hegseth went to the Pentagon podium and said Iran's
new supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured.
Day 14. The war is not winding down, it
is widening. This is epic fury. the US Iran
War podcast daily coverage of the conflict reshaping the
world. The Supreme Leader breaks his
silence 4 Four days after his appointment, Mojtaba Khamenei
said nothing. He did not appear on camera.
He did not issue audio. There was no press conference,
no speech, no address to the Iranian nation.
Reports circulated that he was hospitalized, his legs, hand and
arm injured, in the same bombardment that killed his
father on February the 28th. His wife was killed in that
strike, his sister too. He assumed the highest office in
Iran from a hospital bed. On Thursday, the silence broke,
but not in the way the world expected.
Iranian state television broadcast a written statement
attributed to the new Supreme Leader.
A news anchor read it aloud. A photograph of Mojtaba Khamenei
was displayed on the screen behind her.
There was no video of him, no audio, no appearance.
The most powerful man in Iran could not or would not show his
face. The statement itself left
nothing ambiguous about Iran's intentions.
He called the Strait of Hormuz blockade a lever of pressure
that must continue to be used. He said Iran would keep
attacking U.S. military bases in the Gulf.
He addressed Gulf neighbors directly.
Shut down those American bases as soon as possible.
He said the US claim to provide security and peace had been
nothing but a lie. He vowed vengeance for the blood
of martyrs. He specifically named the
children killed in the min of school strike.
He said Iran had studied opening new fronts where the enemy has
little experience and is highly vulnerable.
Iran's foreign minister had previously warned the entire
region could be dragged into a wider war.
He called on armed groups in Yemen to do their part.
He said armed factions in Iraq also want to help the Islamic
Revolution. CNN analysts noted the statement
offered Iran's neighbors nothing except more threats.
Analyst Arash, as Isaac told CNN the statement was full of
threats and bravado, offered Iranians nothing short of
eternal strife and gave very little hope for a better future.
Netanyahu responded. He said Mojtaba Khamenei cannot
show his face in public. He said Israeli operations are
designed to create the optimal conditions for the Iranian
government to fall. The Iranian UN ambassador then
contradicted the statement within hours of its broadcast.
He said Iran would not close the Strait.
That was almost immediately contradicted by the
Revolutionary Guard, which announced that, in keeping with
the Supreme Leader's orders, the Straight would remain shut. 2
Iranian officials diametrically opposite statements about the
same policy on the same day. Trump deranged scumbags.
Unlimited ammunition and plenty of time.
Donald Trump's Friday morning Truth Social post set the tone
for Day 14. He said the United States is
totally destroying the terrorist regime of Iran militarily,
economically and otherwise. He said Iran's Navy is gone,
their Air Force is no longer. Their missiles, drones and
everything else are being decimated.
Their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth, he
said. We have unparalleled firepower,
unlimited ammunition and plenty of time.
Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.
He added that it was a great honor as the 47th president to
be killing people who have been killing innocent people for 47
years. This is the sitting president of
the United States posting on social media about a live
military operation in which four American service members died
the same day. Earlier in the week, Trump had
said there was practically nothing left to bomb.
On Friday, he was promising. Watch what happens today.
The messaging has been whiplash throughout this conflict.
Short term excursion 4 to 5 weeks almost over most intense
day yet nothing left. Deranged scumbags.
Unlimited ammunition, plenty of time.
When asked what the US needs to do to end the Iran war, Trump
said more the same. Four Americans dead in KC135
crash. The aircraft went down in
western Iraq. AUS Air Force KC135
Stratotanker, A refueling aircraft, crashed while on a
combat mission. Central Command confirmed the
incident. It said the loss of the aircraft
was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.
The circumstances were under investigation.
Four of the six crew members on board were confirmed dead.
Recovery efforts continued for the remaining 2.
An Iranian aligned umbrella group of armed factions in Iraq
claimed it had shot the aircraft down.
Central Command did not support that claim.
General Dan Cain said the crash occurred over friendly territory
in western Iraq while the crew was on a combat mission.
Hegseth addressed the crash at the Pentagon briefing.
He said war is hell, war is chaos.
And as we saw yesterday with a tragic crash of our KC 135, bad
things can happen. He called the crew American
heroes and said their sacrifice would recommit the US to the
mission. The KC135 is the 4th US aircraft
reported loss since the conflict began.
The first three were F15 E Strike Eagles down a friendly
fire incident by Kuwaiti forces on March the 1st.
The second KC 135 from the same mission also suffered damage.
That aircraft diverted and landed at Ben Gurion Airport in
Israel. Photographs showed the plane on
the tarmac with part of its tail fin missing.
Both aircraft were identified as coming from Beale Air Force Base
in California, home of the 940th Air Refueling Wing.
Hegseth, the supreme leader, is wounded and likely disfigured.
Pete Hegseth opened his Pentagon briefing with a direct statement
about Iran's new supreme leader. He said Iran's leadership is in
no better shape, desperate and hiding.
They've gone underground, cowering.
That's what rats do. We know the new so-called not so
supreme leader is wounded and likely disfigured.
He added his father is dead, he's scared, he's injured, he's
on the run and he lacks legitimacy.
It's a mess for them. Who's in charge?
Iran may not even know. He then cast doubt on Thursday's
written statement. He said Iran has plenty of
cameras and plenty of voice recorders.
Why a written statement? He said.
With every passing hour, we know, and they know that the
military capabilities of their evil regime are crumbling.
They can barely communicate, let alone coordinate. the US
government publicly asserting that the head of state of a
foreign nation is disfigured, hiding and on the run is not
standard diplomatic language. It is not standard briefing
language. It is an unprecedented degree of
personal targeting of an adversary leader.
From an official Pentagon podium, General Kane separately
confirmed that US and partner forces have now struck more than
6000 targets inside Iran since the start of Operation Epic.
Fury. Oil above $100 Crude oil crossed
$100 per barrel on Friday. The price milestone came despite
2 significant interventions designed specifically to prevent
it, the IE as record 400 million barrel emergency reserve release
and the US Treasury's extraordinary decision to
temporarily lift sanctions on Russian oil, authorizing the
delivery and sale of Russian crude loaded onto tankers before
March the 12th through until April the 11th.
Markets were unmoved. Putin's investment envoy Karil
Dmitriev called the US move a recognition of the obvious.
Without Russian oil, the global energy market cannot remain
stable. The Russian exemption covered
approximately 100 million barrels of stranded oil.
It is a short term measure. It does not address the
structural problem. The structural problem is the
Strait of Hormuz. It is still closed. 20% of the
world's daily seaborne oil supply is still not moving.
Strategic reserve releases can slow the price rise temporarily.
They cannot replace that supply. Trump posted on Truth Social
that ensuring Iran never develops a nuclear weapon is a
far greater interest and importance to him than the cost
of crude. He said oil prices are
temporary. US GasBuddy reported the
national average price of regular unleaded petrol in the
United States had reached $3.61 per gallon, up sharply from pre
war levels. The increase is directly
attributable to the Hormuz disruption.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright told CNBC that the US Navy was
not yet ready to begin escorting oil tankers through the Strait
of Hormuz. He said that capability would
likely not be available until the end of March.
Shipping companies have been waiting.
Without naval escort, no commercially insured vessel will
transit the Strait. The risk is uninsurable.
The major shipping lines have all diverted.
Global stock markets fell. Japan's Nikkei was down 1.59%.
South Korea's Kospi fell more than 3%.
Taiwan and Hong Kong also declined.
Tankers attacked in Iraqi waters The war on shipping reached
Iraqi territory on Thursday night. 2 oil tankers were struck
near the port of Basra in southern Iraq.
The attack was the first oil related strike in Iraqi
territorial waters during the conflict, images verified by
Reuters. Film from the Basra shoreline
showed ships engulfed in massive orange fireballs lighting up the
night sky. the US owned crude tanker Safe C Vishnu was one of
the vessels struck sailing under a Marshall Islands flag but
owned by a New Jersey company. It was hit by what Iraqi
officials described as explosive laden boats.
An Indian sailor was killed in the attack.
The Indian Embassy in Baghdad confirmed the death and said the
remaining 15 Indian crew members were evacuated and are safe.
Iraq State Organization for Marketing of Oil confirmed the
attacks and suspended all oil terminal operations at Basra.
Basra is the main export terminal for Iraqi crude.
Its suspension directly effects Iraq's oil export revenue and
further tightens global supply. The total number of maritime
incidents in the conflict now exceeded 20.
Since the start of the war. Iran's attacks have now struck
shipping in the waters of the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait,
Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and Iraq. The war at sea covers the entire
Persian Gulf. A French soldier is killed in
Iraqi Kurdistan. France confirmed on Friday that
one of its soldiers was killed in a drone attack in northern
Iraq on Thursday. Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud
Fryin was killed when a drone struck the Malakara base in the
Erbil region of Iraqi Kurdistan, France's Ministry of Armed
Forces confirmed. He was treated on site by
medical teams and later died of his wounds in hospital.
Six other French soldiers were wounded in the same attack.
The Malakara base is home to French forces training Iraqi
Kurdish units. An Iranian aligned armed group
claimed responsibility. It marks the first confirmed
fatality among European NATO forces in the conflict.
France is not a formal party to Operation Epic Fury.
Its soldiers are in Iraq in an advisory and training capacity.
Their presence at a base struck by an Iranian linked group
raises direct questions about Article 5 of the NATO Charter,
which treats an attack on one member as an attack on all.
France has so far avoided being drawn into the direct US Israeli
military campaign. The death of a French soldier
changes the political calculus in Paris significantly.
Dubai Financial District struck Explosions rattled buildings in
central Dubai on Friday morning. The Dubai International
Financial Center, the hub housing regional offices of the
world's largest banks, hedge funds and law firms, sustained
damage after what Dubai authorities described as a
successful interception. The building struck was the DFC
Innovation Hub. Photographs from the scene
showed fire damage and sections of the facade torn away.
A drone also crashed in the Sohar Industrial area of Oman,
killing two people. The second drone crashed in an
open area nearby without casualties.
Iran's strikes have now hit landmark financial and
commercial infrastructure across the Gulf.
This is not accidental. Iran's stated strategy is to
inflict sufficient economic pain on Gulf states to pressure them
to demand the United States and the war.
The Navy escort problem, one of the most consequential
operational gaps of the war, has received almost no attention
amid the daily headline coverage. the US Navy has not
begun escorting commercial oil tankers through the Strait of
Hormuz. Energy Secretary Chris Wright
confirmed it on CNBC. He said the Navy was not ready
for that mission and would likely not be until the end of
March. Trump has been publicly saying
for days that the US is prepared to escort tankers whenever
needed. His own energy secretary
contradicted that on camera. 5 tankers have been recorded
crossing the Strait of Hormuz since the war began.
All 5 sailed under flags of convenience.
All five were owned by companies from India, the United Arab
Emirates, or Turkey. None were American.
None were from US coalition allies.
Iran's IRGC naval commanders stated explicitly that any ship
whose cargo benefits the United States, Israel or their partners
is a legitimate target. The IRGC has been enforcing that
policy. The closure of the Strait is not
a theoretical threat, it is the operating reality of the Persian
Gulf right now, and the world's most powerful Navy does not yet
have a plan to reopen it. Khud's Day in Tehran thousands
March under bombardment On Friday, 10s of thousands of
Iranians took to the streets in Tehran for the annual Khud's Day
rally, held each year on the last Friday of Ramadan in
solidarity with a Palestinian cause.
The rally took on a different dimension in 2026.
It was held while US and Israeli aircraft were actively striking
targets across the country. Chants of death to Israel and
death to America echoed through the streets of a city under
bombardment. A large explosion struck near a
square where demonstrators had gathered for the event,
according to Iranian state television.
The Iranian government used the mass turn out as evidence of
public defiance and support for its war posture.
Opponents noted that significant internal divisions remained over
Mojtaba Khamenei's appointment and that the economic suffering
caused by the war has fallen most heavily on ordinary
Iranians rather than the leadership.
Iran's Internet blackout, meanwhile, reached 240 hours.
Cybersecurity watchdog Net Blocks described it as one of
the most severe government imposed nationwide Internet
shutdowns on record Globally. 3.2 million Iranians displaced
the United Nations refugee agency released a preliminary
assessment on Thursday. As many as 3.2 million people
have been displaced inside Iran since the war began on February
the 28th. The agency warned the figure was
likely to continue rising as hostilities persist In Lebanon.
More than 820,000 people have been registered as displaced.
Lebanon's health ministry reported 687 killed in the
country since fighting resumed. the United Nations World Food
Program warned that the war is driving significant long term
increases in global food prices. The near total halt of tanker
traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has disrupted the supply of fuel
and fertilizers. The Fertilizer Institute
estimates nearly 50% of global urea and sulfur exports transit
through the Strait. Both are critical feedstocks for
fertilizers used in food production worldwide.
A global food security crisis is emerging inside a global energy
crisis. Iran's cultural heritage has
also sustained permanent losses. US and Israeli strikes damaged
at least four historical sites. The Rashke Gin and Palace as a
favorite era building in Isfahan was destroyed.
The Chehal so town pavilion sustained damage.
The Rakib Khanna mansion was struck.
The windows of Ali Kapa Palace were blown out.
Iran and Lebanon formally requested UNESCO place
additional sites on its World Heritage Enhanced Protection
list. The four aircraft lost the cost
in aircrews. The KC135 crash brings the total
number of U.S. military aircraft lost in this conflict to four.
The first three were F15 E Strike Eagles shot down on March
the 1st in a friendly fire incident by Kuwaiti air defenses
on high alert from Iranian attacks.
Three US aircrew were killed. Now four more Americans are dead
in the KC135 crash, two more unaccounted for.
The total confirmed U.S. military fatalities are
approaching 15 when ground casualties from the Kuwait drone
attack in the opening hours of the war are included.
This is not the picture of a cost free air campaign.
American pilots and aircrew are dying, some from enemy action,
some from friendly fire, some from operational failure in an
environment where every system is under extraordinary stress,
Hegseth said. War is hell, that is true, but
it is not a strategy. Day 14 of Operation Epic Fury,
the supreme leader of Iran, issued his first statement while
unseen, unheard and hospitalized.
It contained no off ramps, no overtures, no conditions for
peace. It promised vengeance, closed
straits and new fronts. Trump posted about deranged
scumbags and unlimited ammunition.
Hegseth said the supreme leader is wounded and likely
disfigured. Four Americans died in a plane
crash in Iraq. A French soldier was killed by a
drone. An Indian sailor died when
Iranian boats hit an American owned tanker near Basra.
Dubai's financial district took a hit.
Oil crossed $100 a barrel. 3.2 million Iranians are displaced,
6000 targets have been struck, and the Navy of the most
powerful country on earth is not yet ready to escort a tanker
through a straight it was supposed to have secured 2 weeks
ago. Day 14 is underway, the strikes
continue, the straight remains closed, and the new Supreme
Leader of Iran has told the world he is not interested in
peace. This has been epic.
Fury, the US Iran war podcast. New episodes every day on
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