Pahlavi vows ‘final victory’ over Iran regime in New Year's message

The Pentagon is sending three warships and thousands of additional Marines to the Middle East, even as US President Donald Trump says he will not deploy troops on the ground in Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials.

The deployment includes roughly 2,200 to 2,500 Marines from the USS Boxer amphibious ready group and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the report said.

It marks a second major deployment in a week, following the dispatch of the USS Tripoli and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit to the region, according to the report.

The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program said it is offering rewards of up to $10 million for information on several senior figures in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, urging people to submit tips.

“Five more chances to submit a tip. Send us information on these Iranian terrorist leaders. It could make you eligible for a reward and relocation,” the program said on X.

A poster shared by the program named Ahmad Vahidi, identified as commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Ali Abdollahi, chief of Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Sa’id Aghajani, a UAV commander in the IRGC aerospace force, Hamidreza Lashgarian, head of the IRGC cyber electronic command, and Majid Khademi, IRGC intelligence office commander.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said NATO allies were failing to support efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

“Without the U.S.A., NATO is a paper tiger,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

“They didn’t want to join the fight to stop a nuclear powered Iran … they complain about the high oil prices … but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.

UN Special Rapporteur on Iran Mai Sato called on Iranian authorities to restore internet access and free detainees as Nowruz begins.
“I urge Iranian authorities to lift the internet shutdown and release all those arbitrarily detained — including those held in connection with the nationwide protests — so that families can be whole again,” she wrote on X Friday.

New explosions and fighter jet activity were reported across several Iranian cities around midday Friday.

Witness reports showed jet activity over Nurabad Mamasani, while explosions and flashes were seen in Yazd and a blast was heard in Bushehr. Reports also pointed to strikes on an airbase in Bandar Abbas, with four large explosions heard.

In Semnan, locations including a Basij base and an IRGC site were reported hit, while an area near Shahmirzad was also targeted. Separate reports said the Chamran missile site in Bushehr province’s Jam county was bombed around noon.