An explosion rocks a state-organized march in Tehran after an Israeli warning

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A large explosion rocked an area in the Iranian capital as thousands gathered Friday for an annual state-organized march to support the Palestinians and call for Israel’s demise. Israel warned that it would target the area in central Tehran.

Read more: New wave of strikes hit Tehran as Netanyahu vows ‘many surprises’ for next phase of Iran war

There were no immediate reports of casualties. But the decision to go ahead with the massive demonstration attended by some senior government officials, and Israel’s threat to target the area, highlight the strong determination on both sides nearly two weeks into a war that has rocked the global economy and shows no sign of abating.

Iran has continued to launch large-scale missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf states, effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil trade passes, even as US and Israeli warplanes bomb military and other targets across Iran.

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei pledged on Thursday to continue attacks and keep the strait closed in his first public statement since succeeding his father, who was killed on the first day of the war. Khamenei has not appeared in public since assuming leadership and issued a written statement.

He watches: Residents are fleeing the Iranian capital as the agency says the death toll in Tehran exceeds 1,000 people

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Khamenei was “most likely injured and disfigured” without providing evidence or details. Israel suspects that Khamenei was injured at the beginning of the war.

With global concerns growing about a potential energy crisis and no end to the war in sight, the price of Brent crude, the international standard, remained above $100 a barrel. Brent crude prices rose to about $120 per barrel, about 40% higher than when Israel and the United States launched the war on February 28.

Rock explosion in the mass demonstration area

The explosion rocked the Ferdowsi Square area at midday, where thousands gathered to participate in the annual Jerusalem Day march in which they chanted “Death to Israel” and “Death to America.”

Israel issued a warning on the X account in Persian for people to evacuate the area shortly before the explosion. But few Iranians would have seen this, as the authorities had almost completely shut down the Internet since the beginning of the war. Footage from the scene showed people chanting “God is great” as smoke rose in the area.

Read more: Sources at the Associated Press say that Russia has given Iran information that could help Tehran strike American military targets

The Israeli military later published a second message in Persian, noting that the head of the Iranian judiciary was present at the march and criticizing Iran for cutting off the internet, preventing many from seeing their warning.

The hardliner who leads Iran’s judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Eji, was giving an interview to a state television correspondent at the demonstration when the raid occurred. Surrounded by his bodyguards, he raised his fist and said that Iran “under this rain and missiles will never withdraw.”

Senior security official Ali Larijani, who was also present at the Quds Day demonstrations, told Iranian media covering the event that the suspected Israeli attack was “a sign of its desperation.”

The United States says it has struck 15,000 targets in Iran since the beginning of the war

Israel earlier announced another wave of strikes in Iran targeting infrastructure, and said that its air force had struck more than 200 targets during the past 24 hours, including missile launchers, defense systems and weapons production sites.

In Washington, Hegseth said more than 15,000 enemy targets had been hit, which is more than 1,000 per day since the war began on February 28.

He watches: Asked what the United States should do to end the war with Iran, Trump said “more of the same.”

In a social media post hours ago, US President Donald Trump said: “Watch what happens to these deranged bastards today,” while claiming that the Iranian army has been destroyed and its leaders “wiped from the face of the earth.”

New Iranian attacks across the region

Iran responded with daily attacks on oil and other infrastructure across the Gulf region, and Saudi Arabia said Friday it had shot down nearly 50 drones that were sent in multiple waves.

In Oman, two people were killed when two drones crashed in an industrial area in the Sohar region, according to the Omani News Agency.

In the business and tourism hub of Dubai, black smoke billowed from an industrial area due to a fire that authorities said was sparked by debris from an interception operation.

Read more: Iran is targeting ships, Dubai airport and oil facilities as economic fears mount

A building in the Dubai International Financial Center was also damaged when it was hit by debris from what authorities described as a “successful interception.” The DIFC is an economic free zone for banks, capital traders and wealth managers, and home to exclusive restaurants and nightclubs.

Iran said earlier this week that it would target banks and financial institutions, after an airstrike hit a bank in Tehran.

In Türkiye, NATO defenses intercepted another ballistic missile launched from Iran, for the third time since the start of the war. Residents in the southern city of Adana reported that they heard a loud explosion and sirens at Incirlik Air Base, which is used by American forces.

Fighting escalated between Israel and Hezbollah

Nearly 60 people were injured in northern Israel after the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group said it fired several rockets toward the area and at Israeli forces in southern Lebanon. Almost all injuries were described as very minor.

One person was killed in southwest Beirut in an Israeli raid, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, and another attack hit an apartment in the capital, causing it to catch fire. The Israeli army said it targeted a Hezbollah member.

In eastern Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported that a raid on an apartment wounded a local official in the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and killed his two sons. Over the past two years, Israel has targeted officials in the group.

He watches: Middle East analysts talk about what the Iran war has achieved and how it could end

The Ministry of Health reported that more than 600 people have been killed in Lebanon since the fighting began, and nearly 800,000 have been internally displaced, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Iranian authorities say more than 1,300 people were killed there, while Israel reported 12 deaths. The United States lost at least 11 soldiers, while eight others were seriously injured.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the strikes so far were “just the beginning” and warned that the Lebanese government “will pay an increasing price for damage to Lebanese national infrastructure used by Hezbollah.”

The United States searches for two missing crew members after the plane crash

The US military said that four crew members of a US KC-135 refueling plane that went down in Iraq have been found dead, and rescue efforts are continuing to find the other two.

US Central Command said that the incident was not related to friendly or hostile fire, and that two aircraft participated in the incident, one of which landed safely. The KC-135 is the fourth publicly acknowledged aircraft to crash as part of US military operations against Iran. Last week, friendly Kuwaiti fire mistakenly shot down three American fighter planes.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that a French soldier was killed in an attack targeting Erbil in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq. France had previously announced that six soldiers were injured in a drone strike in Erbil, where French forces are deployed as part of a multinational mission to support Iraqi forces in their fight against ISIS.

A spike was reported from Bangkok, and Corder from The Hague, Netherlands. Sally Abu Al-Joud and Bassem Marwa in Beirut and Sam Madanak in Tel Aviv, Israel, contributed to this story.