Saudi air defenses destroy drone east of Riyadh

Saudi Arabia invoked its Strategic Mutual Defense Agreement with Pakistan as Iran’s drone and missile strikes on the Kingdom continue, including attacks on oil facilities and the US Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said on X on Friday.

Prince Khalid met with Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defense Forces, Field Marshal Asim Munir, to coordinate countermeasures under the pact. He warned that Iranian actions threaten regional security and urged Tehran to exercise “wisdom” and avoid further miscalculations.

A federal jury in Brooklyn convicted Asif Merchant, a 48-year-old trained by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), of murder-for-hire and attempting an act of terrorism in connection with a foiled plot to assassinate a US government official on American soil, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said on Friday.

Merchant traveled to the United States in April 2024 to meet individuals he believed were contract killers, who were actually undercover US law enforcement officers, according to court filings and a Department of Justice statement. Prosecutors said he was tasked by the IRGC to recruit hitmen to target one of three senior US officials. The plot was disrupted before any attack could occur.

“This man landed on American soil hoping to kill President Trump — instead, he was met with the might of American law enforcement,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi in the DOJ statement. Merchant now faces a potential life sentence at a future sentencing hearing.

President Donald Trump privately expressed serious interest in deploying US troops on the ground inside Iran, focusing on a small contingent for specific strategic purposes rather than a large-scale invasion, according to NBC News sources familiar with his discussions amid the escalating US-Israel war with Iran.

“This story is based on assumptions from anonymous sources who are not part of the President’s national security team and are clearly not read into these discussions,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement. “President Trump always, wisely keeps all options open, but anyone trying to insinuate he is in favor of one option or another proves they have no real seat at the table.”

President Donald Trump said on Friday at the White House that the United States is performing “very well” in operations against Iran, adding the Iranian military has been largely destroyed and praising the US armed forces’ performance.

“There’s a lot we’re doing — by the way, in Iran, we’re doing very well. Somebody asked how I would score it from zero to 10. I said, I’d give it a 12 to a 15,” Trump said.

“Their army is gone. Their navy is gone. Their communications are gone. Their leaders are gone. Two sets of their leaders are gone — they’re down to their third set. Their Air Force is wiped out entirely. Think of it. They have 32 ships. All 32 are at the bottom of the ocean. Other than that, they’re doing very well. Coach, very well,” he added.

Trump said the operations targeted a “very bad and very sick group of leaders who were killing a lot of people” and recounted the dangers faced by American personnel, including injuries from roadside bombs.

“We had a choice: we could accept that and go on like that for years, or we could do something about it — and we did. People are very impressed with our military,” Trump said, referencing past operations in Venezuela and the recent use of B‑2 bombers to strike Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

“I think we’re a country that’s more respected than we’ve ever been respected before,” he said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Fox News on Friday that the United States is launching what he described as its largest bombing campaign yet targeting missile launchers and production facilities in Iran.

“Tonight would be our biggest bombing campaign and we will do the most damage to the Iranian missile launchers, the factories that build the missiles. We are substantially degrading them and our campaign has been overwhelming,” Bessent said.