MIDDLE EAST MONITORING DESK ISLAMABAD
The U.S. shut its embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Beirut amid drone attacks as Iran retaliates across the Middle East. The U.S. also urged Americans in the region to “DEPART NOW!” and ordered nonemergency personnel in six Gulf states to leave.
Trump said ahead of a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office with the German chancellor that “everything’s been knocked out” in Iran.
“They have no navy — it’s been knocked out. They have no air force; that’s been knocked out. They have no air detection; that’s been knocked out. Their radar has been knocked out, and just about everything’s been knocked out,” the president told reporters.
“As you know, 49 people were taken out in the first hit. And I guess there was another hit today on the new leadership, and it looks like that was pretty substantial also. So they’re getting hit very hard, and we’ll see what happens,” he said.
Trump added, “I guess you have a third wave coming.”
Hundreds of people have died across the Middle East. Iran’s Red Crescent said nearly 800 people were killed in Israeli and American strikes. Six U.S. service members died in action and 11 people were killed in Israel as Iran fired back.
Why American Left without any Evacuation Plan ?
Dylan Johnson, the assistant secretary of state for global public affairs, said on X that the State Department is working on getting military aircraft and charter flights for Americans who wish to leave the region.
Over the last few days, the State Department has helped over 130 American citizens to depart Israel, with an additional 100 American citizens expected to depart today. The department is in direct contact with and aiding nearly 500 American citizens with travel out of Israel.
Trump was asked in the Oval Office why the Trump administration had no evacuation plan for Americans in the Middle East ahead of the strikes launched against Iran on Saturday.
“Well, because it happened all very quickly,” he said. “I thought we were going to have a situation where we were going to be attacked. They were getting ready to attack Israel.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters today that a drone struck a parking lot adjacent to the chancellery building at the U.S. consulate in Dubai.
The attack “set off a fire in that place,” Rubio said.
“All personnel are accounted for,” he added.
Earlier, the Dubai Media Office said authorities extinguished a fire after a drone attack near the consulate. No injuries were reported, the media office said, sharing pictures of the scene following containment of the fire.
Iran Damages
Satellite images taken before and after airstrikes today show significant damage to some government and military facilities in Iran’s capital.
Lebanon
Three paramedics have been killed and six were wounded in the Tyre district of Lebanon as they were recovering victims after an airstrike, according to the World Health Organization’s office in Lebanon.
The organization condemned the killings, stressing that health workers should never be targeted.
“They are protected under international humanitarian law and must be able to carry out their lifesaving duties in safety,” the WHO said in a statement.
President Donald Trump said the conflict could last weeks and wars can be fought “forever” with America’s stock of munitions, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth vowed the conflict would not be “endless.” U.S. operations will unfold in phases, starting at the edge of the country and moving inward, a source familiar with the campaign told NBC News.
The U.S. is “ahead of schedule” in its operation against Iran and will “unleash” on the country in “the next few hours and days,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters today.
“You’re going to really begin to perceive a change in the scope and in the intensity of these attacks as frankly, the two most powerful air forces in the world take apart this terroristic regime and defang it and take away its ability to threaten its neighbors or hide behind a zone of immunity that allows them to develop their nuclear ambitions,” Rubio said.
TRUMP DISTURBED BY SPAIN AND UK ON IRAN | COMPLAINTS TO GERMAN CHANELLOR
Rubio clarified that the U.S. did not attack Iran because Israel was going to, but because President Trump “made a decision.”
“And the decision he made was that Iran was not going to be allowed to hide behind its ballistic missile program, that Iran was not going to be allowed to hide behind its ability to conduct these attacks,” he said.
Rubio encouraged Americans in the Middle East who want assistance getting out to contact the administration.
“We have to be able to call you, we have to be able to reach you,” Rubio said. “We have to be able to know where you’re staying so we can get this information to you and coordinate appropriately.”
President Donald Trump announced in a post on Truth Social that the U.S. Navy may begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil traffic passes.
Stock futures plunged and energy prices soared as fears of prolonged disruption spread through global markets. Some flights have resumed in the Middle East, but thousands of travelers remain stranded after days of cancellations and airspace closures.
The Data Analytics Center at the Institute for National Security Studies of Israel presents a situation report as real time on the military campaign against Iran.
Surces: IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, Israel Police, Magen David Adom, Home Front Command, Ministry of Health, National Digital Agency, Alma Research and Education Center, and media reports
IRAN
Targets Struck in Iran -1,850 – 1250 American 600 Israeli
Casualties in Iran – Killed 742, Injured 971
Targeted Killings – 45 (13 Secior officials)
Iranian Ballistic Missile Inventory -2000 – 2,500
ISRAEL
Displaced Persons – 1500
Fatalities -13 Injured – 1090
Launches toward the Middle East – 553 Missiles and 1219 UAVs
Hits on American Targets – 7 Bases – 1 Radar
