Everything we know on the seventh day of the US and Israel’s war with Iran

By Jessie Yeung, CNN

(CNN) — Nearly a week into the latest Middle East conflict, Iran’s strikes in the region have decreased significantly – while US attacks on Iran continue ramping up and Israeli strikes prompt panic in southern Beirut.

The Trump administration warns the war will soon escalate – and NATO allies are reluctantly getting pulled into the conflict.

Here’s what you need to know.

What are the main headlines?

• US intensifies attacks: US-Israeli strikes against Iran and Lebanon have ramped up, with explosions heard across Tehran and Beirut overnight into early Friday. The US military is using “a number of new capabilities,” said CENTCOM. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned: “If you think you’ve seen something, just wait.”
• Iran reduces strikes: Meanwhile, Iranian ballistic missile attacks have decreased by 90% and drone attacks by 83%, said US Central Command on Thursday – bringing possible relief for neighboring Gulf states that have borne the brunt of Iran’s retaliation.
• Europe drawn in: Countries including Britain, France and Spain have agreed to provide military support to protect the interests of their allies. But many are also critical of the war. Even as Italy sent defensive weapons to the Persian Gulf, its defense minister said the US-Israel attack on Iran had violated international law.
• NATO gears up: NATO member states have increased their defense posture after a suspected Iranian missile was shot down while traveling toward Turkish airspace on Wednesday. Iran has said did not fire any missiles toward Turkey, per state media.

What’s happening in Iran and Lebanon?

• More Israeli strikes: Israel is moving to the “next phase” of the war, its military chief said late Thursday, after carrying out 2,500 strikes with more than 6,000 weapons. He added that the Israel Defense Forces would push deeper into Lebanon. Meanwhile in Iran, Israel began a “broad-scale wave of strikes” on key regime infrastructure in Tehran early Friday.
• Beirut targeted: New Israeli strikes have targeted the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital, areas it considers a stronghold of the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. Evacuation orders on Thursday covering entire neighborhoods home to more than half a million people caused mass panic as people rushed to leave.
• Growing toll: The US-Israel strikes have killed more than 1,200 people in Iran and more than 120 in Lebanon since the latest conflict began, according to state media from both countries. Iranian strikes have also killed dozens of people in other countries around the region.

What’s happening in the rest of region?

• Iranian strikes: Even with a lower number of attacks, the threat remains. A hotel, two residential buildings, and an oil refinery in Bahrain were hit by Iranian strikes, and Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia all intercepted missile and drone attacks in the early hours of Friday. Iran is also accused of attacking Azerbaijan, in the first strikes on the country since the beginning of the conflict – which Iran denies.
• Iran attacks Israel: Iran said it launched a hybrid drone and missile attack at Tel Aviv on Thursday night. CNN teams on the ground saw what appeared to be a cluster warhead in the skies above central Israel.
• US-made radars targeted: Satellite images from key military bases in the Arabian Peninsula suggest that Iran is trying to weaken THAAD air defense systems by destroying US-made radars that detect incoming missiles and drones.
• Travelers stuck: Hundreds of Americans returned home on the first chartered evacuation flight from Abu Dhabi on Thursday. More than 11,000 flights across 10 countries in the region have been canceled since the conflict began, according to flight tracker Flightradar24.

The latest from Washington

• Congress votes, again: The House on Thursday failed to pass a measure that would have curbed President Donald Trump’s war powers, after a similar vote failed in the Senate on Wednesday.
• Next supreme leader: Trump said he must be “involved in the appointment” of Iran’s next leader and dismissed the prospect of Mojtaba Khamenei succeeding his father, the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

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