US Israel Iran War News Live Updates: Trump’s stark warning to Tehran — ‘now they will pay the price’ (original) (raw)

US President Donald Trump also said the Iranian military is a "complete and total mess". (AP file photo)

US-Israel-Iran War News Live Updates: US President Donald Trump on Friday claimed that Iran’s military has been severely weakened, saying parts of its defence capabilities, including the navy and air force, had been “completely defeated.” In a post on Truth Social, Trump also said Iran has taken too long to negotiate and added “now they will have to pay the price”.

US, Iran launch trade airstrikes: Earlier in the day, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards struck US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan in the early hours of Wednesday and claimed 21 American targets were hit and four destroyed. This came after US conducted airstrikes on Iranian air defence, ground control and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz following the downing of a US Army Apache helicopter near the Strait on Tuesday. Iran also claimed to have downed a US MQ-9 drone over Jam, and warned of a “crushing and decisive” response to any further American action. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X: “Our Powerful Armed Forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered.”

Story continues below this ad

Iran downs US Apache helicopter: Trump confirmed on Truth Social that Iran had downed the “highly sophisticated” Apache, saying the US “must, of necessity, respond.” Both pilots were rescued by a Saronic Technologies Corsair drone boat, the first publicly known use of an unmanned boat by the US military to recover personnel, operated by the Navy’s Task Force 59. A US official told Axios an Iranian drone hit the Apache, though the intentionality remains unclear. The shootdown came after Israel and Iran exchanged direct strikes on Monday for the first time since the April 7 ceasefire, with Israeli airstrikes targeting western and central Iran, including the Karun Mahshahr Petrochemical Company in Khuzestan, and Iran firing a missile salvo at northern Israel. For India, which sources 65-70 per cent of its crude through the Strait of Hormuz and has ~1.35 million nationals across Bahrain and Kuwait, the escalation has put fresh pressure on oil prices and diaspora security.

Follow The Indian Express Global Desk live coverage for the latest updates from the Middle East, the diplomatic corridors of Europe, and the evolving legal battles in Washington.