Trump rules out nuclear strike on Iran as Tehran warns US bombs won't force surrender

Oil prices slipped in early Asian trading Friday as investors weighed Middle East geopolitical tensions against potential U.S. measures to ease restrictions on the global "shadow fleet" of tankers, Reuters reported.

Brent crude futures fell 41 cents, or 0.39%, to $105.51 a barrel as of 0012 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 54 cents, or 0.55%, to $97.43.

The declines followed a strong Thursday trading session when WTI surged more than 3%, driven by a significant decline in U.S. crude inventories, while Brent stayed largely unchanged, the outlet reported.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned Thursday that any further U.S. military strikes or economic pressure would not force Tehran into submission.

“Bombs and missiles can’t force a nation to surrender, but if we become divided internally, the enemy will achieve its goal,” Pezeshkian said, according to Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency.

His remarks came amid reports that the U.S. military had developed plans to strike Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites using the so-called "mother of all bombs" should President Donald Trump order a resumption of combat operations.

Pezeshkian also accused Washington of seeking to exploit economic hardships in Iran amid Operation Outcast.

"The enemy believed that electricity, water and gas shortages, fuel issues, environmental challenges, banking problems, budget deficits, and pension fund issues could divide the Iranian society,” Pezeshkian said, adding that the people’s “resilience and solidarity proved these expectations wrong.”

The upcoming U.S. midterm elections could reshape support for Israel as opposition grows among progressive Democrats, The Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.

The war with Iran and rising energy costs have further complicated campaigns focused on affordability, while divisions over U.S. military aid to Israel deepen.

In Georgia, Sen. Jon Ossoff faced questions about Israel's military campaign in Gaza, while Michigan progressive Abdul El-Sayed challenged the country's status as an unquestioned strategic partner. In New York, progressive candidates have also pledged to block future military aid to Israel.

Yaki Dayan, a former Israeli consul in Los Angeles, said, “Israel, as we are seeing in these midterm elections, has increasingly become a tool for political gain, particularly for the progressive wing of the Democratic Party.”

He added, "AIPAC was one of the most powerful lobbying groups in the United States. Today, Democrats are not even willing to touch its money."

The Houthis are increasingly operating independently of Tehran, posing a "clear and very present danger" on the international stage as the terror group rearms and sharpens its strike capabilities, a former U.S. envoy warned Thursday.

The warning came amid deadly missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia in recent days and growing threats to global shipping routes and critical Middle East infrastructure in the run-up. Turki al-Maliki, spokesperson for the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen, also confirmed Thursday that Houthi attacks on King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh had killed 17 and injured 333 others from Oct. 7-11.

Speaking at a news conference in Riyadh, al-Maliki said the Oct. 10 attack involved 10 drones, missiles and other projectiles. "King Khalid International Airport has been subjected to 20 attacks since (Oct. 1)," he noted.

Tim Lenderking, who served as U.S. special envoy for Yemen from 2021 to 2025 and was posted to Saudi Arabia from 2013 to 2016, said Saudi officials had warned more than a decade ago that the Houthis would become a major threat, a prediction he says has now materialized.

"The Saudis were very clear to our leaders that they viewed the Houthis as a major threat," Lenderking said of his time in the kingdom a decade ago.

At the time, he said, the group was "quietly building up their capability, burnishing their narrative of why they sought to lead Yemen as a messianic group, as a group from northern Yemen, with an agenda, with a mission."

President Donald Trump said Thursday that the United States had eliminated Iran's nuclear weapons capability, arguing that the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism could not be allowed to have a nuclear weapon.

“We've had the most successful two years and it's a little bit less than two years, actually quite a bit less,” Trump said during a tele-rally supporting Sen. Darline Graham’s campaign.

“But we've done more in the short period of time than any other presidency, they say.

“We've now taken the nuclear weapon away from Iran. You'll see that very quickly and very, very quickly. One way or the other.

“It's going to happen very fast. Oil prices will drop like crazy. And yet oil prices are still much lower than both Obama and Biden.

“And we did something that they should have done. We took the nuclear weapon away from the number one state sponsor of terror in the entire world, and we couldn't allow that,” Trump added.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio sanctioned a major Cuban bank Thursday over its financial dealings with an Iranian bank already under U.S. sanctions, escalating the Trump administration's pressure on Havana over its ties to Tehran.

“For too long, Communist Cuba has been allowed to operate as an outpost for malign actors and terror groups — including the Islamic Republic of Iran, the world’s number one state sponsor of terrorism — to target the United States,” Rubio said in a post on X.

“Today, I designated BICSA, a Cuban financial institution which has been providing financial services to sanctioned Iranian entities,” Rubio added.

“Let me be absolutely clear: the Trump Administration will not tolerate a rogue state hosting hostile foreign military, intelligence and terror operations less than a hundred miles from our homeland.”

The Cuban state-owned bank, formally known as Banco Internacional de Comercio S.A., has provided financial services to Iran's Karafarin Bank since at least 2022, according to the Treasury Department. The U.S. had already sanctioned Karafarin Bank in 2020.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent declared Thursday that Washington will not ease up on its economic pressure on Tehran until all funding for its military operations is cut off.

"The noose is tightening around Iran’s economy, and not even Iran’s so-called allies can save it," Bessent said on X.

"The Department of the Treasury will not relent until the Iranian regime’s coffers are empty and every remaining financial lifeline sustaining its war machine has been severed," he added.

Bessent's remarks followed new sanctions imposed by the Treasury Department targeting 16 individuals and 10 entities linked to Iran.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday told Druze supporters that he spoke with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa shortly after Israel bombed government sites in Damascus in 2025.

Speaking at a conference hosted by his Likud party, Netanyahu recounted demanding an immediate end to violence across the border, where al-Sharaa took power after the 2024 overthrow of Bashar al-Assad.

“I picked up the phone to Sharaa,” Netanyahu said during the event, The Times of Israel reported.

“It was a very short and very sharp conversation. And the slaughter stopped.”

Expressing solidarity with Israel’s Druze community, he added, “I will do everything I can to protect our brothers and your brothers."

The Houthis launched a heavy barrage against residential areas in the city of Marib in north-central Yemen on Thursday evening, firing nine ballistic missiles and seven other projectiles, according to a statement from the Marib Governorate Media Office.

The office condemned the strikes, calling them a flagrant violation of international law and human rights norms that strictly prohibit attacks on civilians and nonmilitary infrastructure.

In its statement on X, the governorate urged the international community, the United Nations and global human rights and humanitarian organizations to formally condemn the strikes, take concrete measures to safeguard civilians and hold those responsible accountable.

Marib is a strategically important city in north-central Yemen. It serves as the government's main northern stronghold, as well as being a major oil and gas production hub.

Israeli foreign policy adviser Ophir Falk said Thursday that dual military and economic pressures have brought Israel "very close" to enabling regime change in Iran.

“I think we’re very close to creating those conditions,” Falk said in an interview with The Jerusalem Post.

“Those conditions are being created as we speak right now,” he added.

Falk also said that Israeli strikes targeting senior leadership, nuclear scientists and missile production, as well as U.S.-led sanctions, have severely weakened Tehran and its proxies.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry lashed out at the UK on Thursday, accusing British officials of a "grotesque reversal of victim and aggressor" following comments by UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband.

Tehran’s response came after Miliband expressed condolences to Secretary of State Marco Rubio over an American killed in a Houthi airstrike and cited Iranian "aggression" in the region.

“The chaos engulfing our region is the consequence of unlawful interventions, including those backed or contributed to by the UK,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei wrote on X

“For the UK Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband to portray Iran as the ‘aggressor’ after two rounds of unlawful aggression against it in just nine months, even as it pursued negotiations, is a grotesque reversal of victim and aggressor,” he stated.

 “It marks yet another low in the UK’s long record of hostile campaigns against Iran.”

Baghaei also asserted that Miliband’s framing was “as absurd as portraying Nazi Germany as a ‘defender of peace’ while casting the UK and its allies in WWII as the aggressors.”

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon issued a stern warning Thursday to Iran, Hezbollah and other regional adversaries against attempting to disrupt or influence Israel’s upcoming elections.

As voting began for Israeli diplomats overseas, Israeli officials cited intelligence warnings that civilians could be targeted and that Iran was planning to disrupt the process.

“In 12 days, over 7 million voters will cast their ballots in Israel's elections,” Danon said. “This morning, even I cast my ballot at our mission, only a few minutes ago. But today, we must address an alarming reality.”

“We have seen the report that Iran, Hezbollah, and other extremists in our region are conspiring to take advantage of the election period in Israel.”

“It doesn't matter if it's a provocative ballistic missile exercise. A cyber attack or a disinformation campaign, we are issuing a clear warning.”

“Anyone who attempts to threaten or attack Israel will face devastating consequences.”

According to Ynet, the Israeli government is expected to extend a nationwide state of emergency through Nov. 3, keeping it in effect during the elections amid security assessments indicating a continued high risk of attacks.

Yemen’s army carried out 1,250 operations targeting Houthi militants over the past 24 hours, killing 700 fighters and destroying or disabling 150 military vehicles, its spokesperson said Thursday.

“As part of Operation Dawn of Yemen, our forces executed 1,250 direct targeting ops over the past 24 hours against Houthi militia targets across all fronts, resulting in neutralizing 700 Houthi members & destructing & disabling 150 military vehicles,” the spokesperson said on X.

On Thursday, the Saudi-led military coalition also said the Houthis had attempted to attack dozens of sites, highlighting the risk to Saudi civilian infrastructure, Reuters reported.

Fighting between Houthi militants and Saudi-backed forces resumed in Yemen last month. Operation Dawn of Yemen began last week, with the initial goal of recapturing Houthi-controlled territory and regaining ground near the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

The Treasury Department imposed new sanctions Thursday targeting Iran’s remaining financial lifelines, including an Iraqi bank accused of providing Tehran access to U.S. dollars, Iranian offshore banks, oil intermediaries and a network of foreign-exchange operators and front companies.

“By dismantling these institutions — including offshore banks and shadow financiers that have moved hundreds of millions of dollars through shell companies and foreign-exchange specialists across the Middle East and Asia — Treasury is severing critical revenue streams that sustain Iran’s military and proxy forces,” the Treasury said in a statement.

The Treasury Department’s FinCEN also issued an alert Thursday urging financial institutions to flag potential Iranian regime abuse of religious charity networks, including the diversion of Shiite religious tithes known as khums.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, Treasury will not allow the Iranian regime to continue its long history of abusing religious institutions to line the pockets of its elites and fund terrorism,” said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent.

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) on Thursday rejected Iranian claims that Tehran controls the Strait of Hormuz, that a commercial vessel struck a naval mine in the waterway and that hundreds of U.S. troops were killed in Jordan.

The command said on X that the United States and its “regional partners control the strait as commercial vessels continue to transit despite unwarranted IRGC aggression.”

CENTCOM also said the civilian container ship M/V GFS Pride was struck by a projectile fired by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The vessel later sank while being towed to shore.

Despite the attack, commercial shipping continues through the Strait of Hormuz, with more than 40 vessels passing through the waterway in the past 24 hours, CENTCOM added.

The command also said the strait's primary shipping routes are clear of sea mines.

“Three American service members were killed in action in July as partner forces defended against Iranian attacks. We honor the memories of all U.S. service members who paid the ultimate sacrifice and represent America's best,” the command said.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun attempted to assure Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a call Thursday that Lebanon’s army and security forces are enforcing measures to confiscate weapons, prevent armed displays and combat smuggling, according to the Lebanese presidency.

The call came after Hezbollah acknowledged that hundreds of kilograms of explosives seized in Lebanon belonged to the Iran-backed group and were intended for explosive drones targeting Israeli troops.

Aoun said the recent seizure was part of Lebanon’s effort to bring all weapons under state control and vowed that judicial authorities would pursue the cases without leniency.

He also asked Rubio to pressure Israel to halt strikes in southern Lebanon and comply with a U.S.-brokered framework agreement.

Reuters contributed to this report.

The American military has largely operated on a familiar premise: combat the enemy overseas before the fight reaches home.

But as drones, cyberattacks and long-range weapons pose growing threats to U.S. military installations and critical infrastructure, Army leaders are preparing for a future in which American forces could come under attack before they ever deploy overseas.

"If we're going against a pacing threat, power projection will be contested," Gen. Christopher LaNeve, the Army's acting chief of staff, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday.

He said the military is rethinking assumptions that were held during decades of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, when American forces could largely count on secure bases and supply lines at home.

"During the Global War on Terror, we took a lot of things for granted, because we could," LaNeve said during a small-group roundtable at the Association of the United States Army's annual conference in Washington this week.

In a potential conflict with China, disrupting American military bases, transportation networks and communications could delay U.S. forces from reaching the battlefield.

The Pentagon's latest report on China's military capabilities warns that Beijing has positioned cyber capabilities inside U.S. critical infrastructure networks that could be used to disrupt American military mobilization during a conflict.

This is an excerpt from Fox News Digital's Morgan Phillips' report.

The U.S. military has reportedly developed plans that could include using the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb, known as the “mother of all bombs,” against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites if President Donald Trump orders renewed combat operations, CNN reported Thursday, citing U.S. officials.

The potential use of the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal would represent a major escalation in the Iran war.

Officials reportedly questioned whether the weapon would achieve Washington’s strategic objectives.

Fox News Digital could not independently verify the report.

The Saudi-led coalition said Thursday that it intercepted and destroyed a drone over Khamis Mushait, Saudi Arabia.

The coalition did not immediately identify who launched the drone or provide details about its intended target.

Khamis Mushait, in southwestern Saudi Arabia, has faced repeated attacks from Iran-backed Houthi forces during the escalating regional conflict.

The incident comes as the coalition intensifies operations against the Houthis in Yemen and Saudi Arabia strengthens defenses around its airports, ports and oil facilities.