Huge strikes hit military bases near iconic Azadi Square in Tehran

Israel’s military spokesperson said about 50 Israeli Air Force jets struck an underground bunker beneath Iran’s leadership compound in central Tehran on Friday, which he said had been built for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The spokesperson said the strike, carried out with intelligence guidance, targeted a subterranean shelter constructed under the compound and described it as an emergency command site intended for use during wartime. He said the facility was destroyed before it could be used.

He added that the complex had continued to be used by senior Iranian officials after Khamenei was killed earlier in the campaign. The spokesperson said the underground network extended beneath several streets in central Tehran and included multiple entry points and meeting rooms.

He said the compound functioned as a central headquarters for Iran’s leadership and that destroying the bunker would further damage Iran’s command and control capabilities.

Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Saleh Jokar said he hopes the war expands into a ground conflict so that American soldiers are killed, and vowed that the outcome will be decided on the battlefield, not through diplomacy.

“I hope this war turns into a ground war so we witness the burial of American soldiers in the Persian Gulf region,” Jokar told Didban Iran.

Referring to US President Donald Trump, he added: “America, which Trump boasted about and said we have the strongest army in the world — where is it now?”

He said Iran has not yet used its “new tactics and technologies” in the fight against the United States and Israel, adding: “We will determine the final result on the battlefield, diplomacy is no longer enough.”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar condemned an Iranian attack on buildings in Bahrain that house members of the Qatari Emiri Naval Forces.

In a statement posted on X, the ministry called the strike a “blatant hostile act” and a “flagrant violation” of Bahrain’s sovereignty, saying it posed a direct threat to the country’s security and to regional stability.

It said the Qatari naval personnel stationed at the targeted sites, who were participating in a joint maritime operations center under the Gulf Cooperation Council’s unified military command, were safe and no injuries were recorded.

The ministry expressed full solidarity with Bahrain and urged an end to escalation and adherence to international law and the United Nations Charter.

Sri Lanka has taken control of a second Iranian naval vessel off its coast, a day after a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in nearby waters.

The vessel, identified as the Irins Bushehr, requested permission to dock after reporting engine trouble. Sri Lankan authorities allowed it to enter the northeastern port of Trincomalee, and 208 crew members were evacuated, officials said.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Sri Lanka acted on humanitarian grounds and stressed the country’s neutrality amid the US-Israeli campaign against Iran.

The move follows Wednesday’s US torpedo attack on the Iranian frigate Iris Dena about 44 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern coast, in which at least 87 people were killed.

The Kremlin said Russia remains a reliable supplier of oil, natural gas and liquefied natural gas and can guarantee deliveries despite market turmoil linked to the Iran crisis.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russia is in dialogue with representatives of Iranian leadership but gave no further comment.

He said there has been a “rise in demand for Russian energy because of war in Iran,” pointing to higher global interest in Russian supplies amid disruptions in other markets.