President Trump said on Friday the U.S. military had “totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island.”

In a Truth Social post Friday evening, Trump added that “for reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the island.” The president warned that if Iran “or anyone else” interfere with the passage of ships in the Strait of Hormuz, “I will immediately reconsider this decision.”

Kharg Island sits 15 miles off Iran’s coast and is critical to Iran’s oil infrastructure and the country’s economy. Roughly 90 percent of Iran’s export crude oil passes through the island.

On his way to Mar-a-Lago in Florida shortly before his post, Trump told reporters, “The situation in Iran is going very well. A lot of big hits today, a lot of big wins today.” Asked how long he thinks the war would last, he said, “I can’t tell you that. I mean, I have my own idea, but what good does it do? It will be as long as it’s necessary. They’ve been decimated. The country — their country’s in bad shape. The whole thing is collapsing.”

Earlier on Friday, the U.S. military had said that all six crew members were killed when a KC-135 refueling aircraft went down in Iraq, raising the American 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 call Operation Epic Fury but complained about negative media coverage of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Friday that joint U.S.-Israeli military strikes have hit more than 15,000 targets and injured the new Iranian supreme leader.

President Trump, in a post on Truth Social, said the U.S. is “totally destroying” Iran’s regime, militarily and economically.

A woman looks at a building where an apartment was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the Burj Hammoud area on the northern outskirts of Beirut on March 14, 2026.

Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty Images

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Ibrahim Amro/AFP via Getty Images

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Iranian and Lebanese health officials and Israeli authorities reported more than 1,300 people killed in Iran, 773 people in Lebanon and 12 civilians in Israel, as well as two Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon. Wednesday’s aircraft crash over Iraq brings the U.S. military death toll to 13, seven of whom were killed by enemy fire. Eight U.S. service members are severely injured, according to the Pentagon.

The humanitarian toll also deepened as the total number of people displaced by the fighting in Iran and Lebanon reached into the millions.

Here are further updates about the conflict.

To jump to a specific coverage topic, click on the links below:

U.S. casualties | More war ahead

U.S. casualties rise and additional Marines head to Mideast

The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said Friday all six crew members died when their refueling aircraft went down over Iraq.

CENTCOM, which oversees the military’s Middle East operations, initially reported an unspecified incident involving two aircraft Thursday. It said the U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft was lost in western Iraq, while the other landed safely. It is investigating the circumstances but confirmed the “loss of the aircraft was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”

That brings the U.S. military death toll to 13, seven of whom were killed by enemy fire, according to the Pentagon.

NPR has also confirmed that an additional 2,200 U.S. Marines are heading to the Middle East.

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit based in Okinawa, Japan, aboard the USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, will join an armada of ships taking part in the Iran war, a source told NPR on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The source did not specify what role the Marines will play.

The deployment was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

— NPR’s National Security Desk

Officials brace for an end without a deal — and the risk of a “war routine”

A senior official in the region, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss internal deliberations, told NPR they expected the war to last at least another week, and that Israeli leaders increasingly believe the U.S. and Israel will end the war unilaterally, without a negotiated agreement. In such a scenario, the official said, Iran and allied groups, including the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Houthi rebels in Yemen, could establish a new normal of intermittent fire at Israel, prompting repeated Israeli retaliation.

The official said that kind of tit-for-tat exchange would leave Israelis living with an intolerable “war routine” even if the intensity of the conflict fades.

The official also said Israel is not ruling out an expanded ground operation in southern Lebanon, but described Israel as holding back so far from striking broad civilian infrastructure, largely because the U.S. sees Lebanon as a partner.

— Daniel Estrin, Carrie Kahn

Arezou Rezvani contributed to this report from Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdish region.

“OK, don’t step into the actual fissure. We don’t actually know how deep it goes.” In 2024, Eilen Stewart bought a house on a landslide. “Honestly, we’re priced out of a lot of the L.A. area. So when we saw this house in this amazing neighborhood — it’s safe. It’s beautiful. It’s got amazing school districts. I mean, it just seemed like this house is half the price that it should be. Of course, that’s when we figured out that there’s a reason that the house is this price.” Land here was moving as much as a foot per week around that time. But this house seemed OK, so Eilen and her husband went for it, paying $1.3 million, a deal for coastal Palos Verdes, Calif. “We knew there was a landslide, but we made a calculated risk. And we’ll see if it pays off or not.” Parts of Palos Verdes have been inching towards the sea for decades, but heavy rainfall in recent years accelerated the landslide, cracking foundations and destroying homes. “This is probably one of the largest active landslides with homes on it in the entire United States, if not the world. It’s almost like a giant raft that’s moving on this real slippery layer at depth.” “The movement has always been here. It’s just been at an acceptable level. But once anything has started moving, it’s very, very difficult to stop.” “For longtime residents like Tim Kelly, who bought his home here in 1994, leaving would mean a massive financial hit. Landslides generally aren’t covered by insurance. “So prior to the landslide, my house was — based on Zillow and Redfin and all those — was at approximately $2.1 million. It’s been reassessed on the L.A. County tax rolls at $129,000. All right, guys. 7:01, we’re late. We’re late.” With little choice but to stay put and a deep love for their neighborhood, Tim and a crew of dedicated neighbors are trying to slow down the landslide by drying it out. Every morning, they fire up generators for wells that pump water out of the ground. “Putting in de-watering wells is one of the primary approaches to slow the slide down. And we’ve seen a dramatic reduction in movement as a result of taking those measures. In some areas, we’ve reduced the movement by almost 90 percent at its peak.” Last winter was also less rainy than the two before, another factor. Gas and electricity were cut off to many in 2024, and residents have had to go off grid. Some families have left altogether for safety reasons. Nearly two years later, 172 homes are still disconnected from grid power, including Eilen’s. Her land has also moved a lot since she moved in. “When we first moved in, you could see maybe this much of the ocean. It was kind of a little tiny sliver. But all of those homes that are in front of us sunk down a good 10 feet. And part of the silver lining is that we have a much better view now.” Eilen estimates she spent about $200,000 on landslide-related fixes, including picking up the house, placing it on steel beams and moving it away from the slide. But all of this might just be delaying the inevitable. “You’re fighting nature, and what we see is that nature is changing with climate change and maybe more rainfall occurring in the future. We do have means and methods to tackle that. It’s just very expensive.” As of June this year, Palos Verdes will have spent about $65 million on landslide mitigation since 2022. Its entire annual city budget is about $40 million. “We’re aggressively trying to get money from the state and federal government to be able to solve the problem and implement the solutions that we have. But we need more to keep going.” At least 11 homes have sold in the landslide zone since 2024. Last summer, the city banned future new construction here. But anybody is still free to move in. “It’s buyer beware, right, because you’re coming into an area that the land is going to be moving forever. But if they want to then it’s their choice.” “If the house slid down the hill tomorrow, what would you do?” “I would put up a tent in that backyard and still live here.”