This image, located in northern Israel, shows an Israeli Air Force fighter jet flying over the border region of southern Lebanon on March 13, 2026.
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“The US military has completely obliterated every single military target on Iran’s crown jewel of Kharg Island,” President Trump said Friday.
In a Truth Social post Friday evening, Trump added, “For reasons of decency, I have not chosen to delete the oil infrastructure on the island.” The president warned that if Iran “or anyone else” obstructs the passage of ships in the Strait of Hormuz, “I will immediately reconsider this decision.”
Kharg Island is located 15 miles off the coast of Iran and is critical to Iran’s oil infrastructure and the country’s economy. Roughly 90 percent of Iran’s exported crude oil passes through the island.
“The situation in Iran is very good. A lot of big hits today, a lot of big wins today,” Trump told reporters as he headed to Mar-a-Lago, Florida, shortly before his post. Asked how long he thought the war would last, he said, “I can’t say that, I mean, I have my own opinion, but what good is it? It lasts as long as it needs to. They’re ruined. The country—their country is in bad shape. The whole thing is falling apart.”
The US military said on Friday that all six crew members were killed when a KC-135 refueling plane crashed in Iraq, raising the US death toll after two weeks of war with Iran.
The news came as President Trump and his defense secretary touted the success of what they called Operation Epic Fury but complained about negative media coverage of the US-Israeli war with Iran.
Joint US-Israeli military strikes have hit more than 15,000 targets and wounded Iran’s new supreme leader, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday.
President Trump, in a Truth Social post, said the US was “absolutely destroying” the Iranian regime, both militarily and economically.
A woman looks at an apartment building hit by an Israeli airstrike in the Burj Hammoud area on the northern outskirts of Beirut on March 14, 2026.
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Iranian and Lebanese health officials and Israeli officials reported the deaths of more than 1,300 people in Iran, 773 in Lebanon and 12 civilians in Israel and two Israeli soldiers in Lebanon. Wednesday’s plane crash over Iraq brings the US military death toll to 13, seven of whom were killed by enemy fire. Eight US service members were critically injured, according to the Pentagon.
The humanitarian toll deepened as the total number of people displaced by the fighting in Iran and Lebanon reached the millions.
Here are more updates on the conflict.
US casualties rise and additional Marines move to the Middle East
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Friday that all six crew members were killed when their refueling plane went down over Iraq.
CENTCOM, which oversees the military’s Middle East operations, initially reported an unspecified incident involving two planes on Thursday. A US KC-135 refueling plane was lost in western Iraq, but another landed safely. It was investigating the circumstances but confirmed that “the loss of aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire”.
That brings the US military death toll to 13, seven of whom were killed by enemy fire, according to the Pentagon.
NPR has confirmed that an additional 2,200 US Marines are heading to the Middle East.
The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, based in Okinawa, Japan, will join Iran’s fleet of warships aboard the USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, a source told NPR on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The source did not specify what role the Navy would play.
The assignment was first reported The Wall Street Journal.
– NPR’s National Security Desk
Officials brace for an end without an agreement – and the risk of a “war routine”.
A senior official in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss internal discussions, told NPR that he expected the war to last at least another week and that Israeli leaders largely believed the US and Israel would end the war unilaterally without a negotiated agreement. In such a scenario, Iran and allied groups, including the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels in Yemen, could establish a new normal of recurring fire on Israel, prompting repeated Israeli retaliation, the official said.
The tit-for-tat exchange leaves Israelis living with an intolerable “routine of war” even as the intensity of the conflict fades, the official said.
The official said Israel is not ruling out an extended ground operation in southern Lebanon, but explained that Israel is backing away from hitting broad civilian infrastructure because the US sees Lebanon as a partner.
– Daniel Estrin, Cary Conn
Arezou Rezwani contributed to this report from Erbil, in the Kurdish region of Iraq.
