The Latest: Trump says trade deals could be done within a month

After saying earlier in the day that he was “in no rush” to finish trade deals, President Donald Trump said he thought he could wrap up tariff talks “over the next three or four weeks.” That timeline would be ambitious, as Trump’s tariffs have sent nations scrambling to Washington. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met with Trump earlier Thursday.

His remarks came as he addressed reporters in the Oval Office after signing executive orders meant to boost U.S. commercial fishing in the Pacific Ocean.

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U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell said he will not issue an emergency order directing the team of billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk to stop its takeover of the U.S. Institute of Peace.

In doing so Howell denied a request from former staffers and nonprofit organizations who sued Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, this month, saying the takeover is illegal and puts diplomats abroad at risk.

The plaintiffs said Congress established the institute as an independent nonprofit organization — not a government entity — so it cannot legally be taken over by DOGE. They also contend that DOGE is usurping lawmakers’ authority by preventing it from carrying out programs mandated by Congress.

DOGE attorneys counter that the institute is an executive branch agency, noting that the board members are presidentially appointed and it is required to publish certain notices in the federal register. They also say the institute is still doing the work mandated by Congress.

An official said Thursday that the U.S. will withdraw the troops, leaving fewer than 1,000 to work with Kurdish allies to counter the Islamic State group. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet announced publicly.

The troops have been critical not only in operations against IS but as a buffer for Kurdish forces against Turkey, which considers them to be aligned with terror groups.

Trump tried to withdraw all forces from Syria during his first term, but that met opposition from the Pentagon because it was seen as abandoning allies and led to the resignation of former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

The withdrawal will return force levels to where they were for years after the U.S. and allies waged a multiyear campaign to defeat IS.

University professors and students led protests on campuses across the U.S. on Thursday against what they say are broad attacks on higher education, including massive cuts to funding, the expulsion of international students and the stifling of free speech about the war in Gaza.

Demonstrations were held at schools including Harvard, where Trump’s administration says it will freeze $2.2 billion in grants and contracts and is threatening to revoke its ability to host international students.

Rochelle Sun, a graduate student at Harvard’s Department of Government, said she came to stick up for international students because they’re integral to the school’s mission of pushing “the boundaries of human knowledge.”

“The whole point of me having this education here and for pursuing research at Harvard is to be among the best scholars that exist in the world,” Sun said after the protest in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “And so if they’re not going to be around me, then I’m not going to be able to achieve my goals of being here, either.”

▶ Read more about the protests

The two sides returned to a courtroom Thursday as part of the high-stakes battle over who can control which journalists are able to question the president.

Lawyers argued before a U.S. Court of Appeals panel about putting in place a lower court order last week that the administration stop excluding AP from events in places like the Oval Office and Air Force One. It’s not clear when a ruling may come.

On Friday they will go before the author of last week’s decision, U.S. District Court Judge Trevor N. McFadden. AP has asked him to enforce his ruling.

AP reporters and photographers have been blocked since Trump objected to the outlet’s decision not to rename the Gulf of Mexico. McFadden said the AP shouldn’t be excluded just because the president disagrees with them.

AP says the White House is ignoring that order and continuing to bar its journalists; Trump’s team says it has a new rotation system for such events and it hasn’t been AP’s turn yet.

▶ Read more about the dispute between AP and the Trump administration

The president extended the freeze through July 15 on Thursday. Under the directive, vacancies would not be filled on the civilian side for the first six months of his second term.

Excluded from the hiring freeze are members of the military and the executive office of the president, as well as possible exemptions through the government’s Office of Personnel Management.

The directive also bans contracting outside the government to sidestep the freeze.

The president said his administration is reconsidering the tax-exempt status not just of Harvard University but also environmental groups and the ethics watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, or CREW.

His remarks come as conversations have been swirling among advocacy and civil society groups about Trump’s campaign of retribution turning to them. CREW has been tracking the administration’s actions and sued over its firing of federal workers.

“It’s supposed to be a charitable organization,” Trump said. “The only charity they had is going after Donald Trump. So we’re looking at that. We’re looking at a lot of things.”

The president plans to sign the order next week. It’s not clear what it would involve, except that it could widen the range that lobster boats can travel.

Speaking in the Oval Office in front of reporters, an aide offered to get the order to Trump. The president suggested that existing laws result in a shortage of Maine lobsters.

The president is drastically shrinking the size and the mission of the agency, the latest step in an extraordinary reshaping of the federal government.

Roughly 1,500 employees will be cut from the CFPB, leaving around 200 people, according to an administration official who wasn’t authorized to disclose the figure publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Fox Business first reported the number of layoffs.

Employees started receiving layoff notices on Thursday. Their access to agency systems, including email, ends Friday evening.

“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau identified your position being eliminated and your employment is subject to termination in accordance with reduction-in-force (RIF) procedures,” the emails said.

The president said tax-exempt status is a “privilege” that more schools than just Harvard are abusing.

He recently targeted Harvard in a social media post, questioning whether it should remain tax-exempt “if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’”

Harvard recently rejected Trump administration demands for changes to its curriculum and operations. The administration responded by cutting off billions of dollars in federal funding.

The IRS is said to be reviewing the university’s tax-exempt status.

“It’s something that these schools will have to be very, very careful with,” Trump said Thursday.

After saying he was in no rush to finish trade deals, the president said he thought he could wrap up talks “over the next three or four weeks.”

That timeline would be ambitious, as Trump’s tariffs have sent nations scrambling to Washington. Yet it’s still unclear what he wants, and he still seems committed to imposing tariffs.

Trump has indicated that tariff rates can change, but he said his biggest limitation is that “there’s only so many hours in the day.”

The president’s timeline was about making a deal with China and “everybody.”

The Trump administration is asking Congress to eliminate funding for Head Start, a move that would cut early education for more than half a million of the nation’s neediest children and child care for their families.

The proposal is tucked in a 64-page internal draft budget document obtained by The Associated Press that seeks deep cuts at the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Head Start. It is still in a highly preliminary phase as the White House prepares to send Congress its budget request for the 2026 fiscal year.

It is not clear if the proposed cuts will be accepted by lawmakers. While Congress often ignores a president’s budget request, the proposed elimination of Head Start highlights the administration’s priorities as Trump seeks to overhaul education in the United States.

▶ Read more about the proposal

The president invited reporters back to the Oval Office as he signed directives meant to boost U.S. commercial fishing in the Pacific Ocean.

He was flanked by residents of American Samoa who thanked him for his efforts, saying they would boost the seafood-dependent local economy.

“It’s so horrible and so stupid, it’s so stupid,” Trump said. “We’re talking about a massive ocean, and they’re forced to travel four to seven days to go and fish.”

Talking again at the White House, the president was asked about the shooting at Florida State University.

“It’s a shame,” he said, calling himself a “big advocate” of the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms.

“The gun doesn’t do the shooting, the people do,” Trump said.

He added that he has an “obligation” to protect the Second Amendment.

The president said King Charles has invited him to visit the country later this year.

“I think we’re setting a date for September,” he told reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday.

“It’s an honor to be a friend of Charles,” he said

Trump is set to go on the first foreign trip of his second term to Saudi Arabia next month.

The president said he’s “so happy” the high court will hear arguments on his plan to end birthright citizenship.

“I think the case has been so misunderstood,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

He noted that the 14th Amendment granting automatic citizenship to people born in the U.S. was ratified right after the Civil War. He suggested that means it is “all about slavery.”

“If you look at it that way, we would win that case,” Trump said.

In a letter sent Thursday by Republican Chairman James Comer and Rep. Elise Stefanik, who’s chairwoman of the House Republican Leadership, the committee accused Harvard of a “lack of compliance with civil rights laws” and directed the school to provide documents relating to hiring, admissions and diversity, equity and inclusion.

The congressional inquiry follows Harvard’s refusal to comply with demands from the Trump administration related to admissions, campus activism and hiring. The executive branch has pressured Harvard by withholding more than $2 billion in federal research funding and threatening the school’s tax-exempt status and ability to host international students.

It was on the same day he met with Ukrainian and European officials about U.S. efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Rubio gave Sergey Lavrov the same message he conveyed to the delegations in Paris, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.

“President Trump and the United States want this war to end, and have now presented to all parties the outlines of a durable and lasting peace,” Bruce’s statement said.

The talks Thursday were the first time since Trump took office that American, Ukrainian and European officials are known to have met to discuss an end to the war.

“The encouraging reception in Paris to the U.S. framework shows that peace is possible if all parties commit to reaching an agreement,” Bruce said.

The Trump administration’s claim that it can’t do anything to free Kilmar Abrego Garcia from an El Salvador prison and return him to the U.S. “should be shocking,” a federal appeals court said Thursday in a scathing ruling in favor of the Maryland man.

A three-judge panel from the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously refused to suspend a judge’s decision to order sworn testimony by Trump administration officials to determine if they complied with her instruction to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return.

The panel said Trump’s government is “asserting a right to stash away residents of this country in foreign prisons without the semblance of due process that is the foundation of our constitutional order.”

“Further, it claims in essence that because it has rid itself of custody that there is nothing that can be done. This should be shocking not only to judges, but to the intuitive sense of liberty that Americans far removed from courthouses still hold dear,” they wrote.

▶ Read more about Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s case

A hearing is underway in the nation’s capital to consider three lawsuits in federal district court challenging President Trump’s sweeping executive order on elections.

The Democratic National Committee, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the League of Women Voters Education Fund and others are seeking to block parts of Trump’s sweeping overhaul of federal election processes, including its directive to add a proof-of-citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form.

Danielle Lang, counsel for the nonpartisan groups suing the Trump administration, said requiring citizenship proof would complicate her clients’ voter registration drives at grocery stores and other public places.

It would make them “far more cumbersome, far more difficult, and far less effective,” she said.

Dakota Meyer, a Marine who was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism in the Afghanistan War but later became a sharp critic of the Biden administration over its chaotic withdrawal from that conflict, is reenlisting in the military and will serve in the Marine Reserves.

In a briefing with reporters Thursday before his reenlistment ceremony, Meyer said he’s returning to military service after 15 years out of uniform because he felt he “had more to give.” He’s also close to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

But Meyer said he would refrain from politics while in uniform.

“The great part about being in the reserves is I’m still a citizen when I’m not on orders,” he said. “When I’m on orders, I’ll comply obviously with whatever the standard is.”

“I’m not in a rush to do it because I think that Iran has a chance to have a great country and to live happily without death, and I’d like to see that,” Trump told reporters as he hosted Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni at the White House. “That’s my first option. If there’s a second option, I think it would be very bad for Iran.”

Trump’s latest comments on Iran’s nuclear program comes as his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi are set to gather Saturday for a second round of talks.

The New York Times on Thursday reported that Israel had recently developed a plan to attack Iranian nuclear facilities, but Trump wanted to give negotiations more time.

Asked about the report, Trump said “I wouldn’t say waved off,” while reiterating his position that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.

“It’s really simple,” Trump added. “We’re not looking to take their industry. We’re not looking to take their land. All we are saying is you can’t have a nuclear weapon.”

“No, tariffs are making us rich. We were losing a lot of money under Biden,” the U.S. president said. “And now that whole tide is turned.”

Trump took time to lavish praise on the Italian prime minister, however.

“She’s doing a great job, certainly one of our great allies,” he said. “She’s a fantastic person and doing a great job and our relationship is great.”

After Harvard defied the Trump administration’s demands, the president suggested on social media the university should lose its tax-exempt status “if it keeps pushing political, ideological, and terrorist inspired/supporting ‘Sickness?’”

The White House suggested IRS scrutiny of Harvard’s tax status predated Trump’s post Tuesday on Truth Social. Federal tax law prohibits senior members of the executive branch from requesting that an IRS employee conduct or terminate an audit or investigation.

“Any forthcoming actions by the IRS will be conducted independently of the President, and investigations into any institution’s violations of its tax status were initiated prior to the President’s TRUTH,” White House spokesperson Harrison Fields said in an email Thursday.

But a person familiar with the matter said the Treasury Department directed Andrew De Mello, the IRS’s acting chief counsel, to begin the process of revoking Harvard’s tax exempt status shortly after Trump’s post. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal matters.

▶ Read more about Harvard and the IRS

— Fatima Hussein

Many conservative states, including Florida, Texas and Indiana, have recently introduced bills aiming to create or expand proof of citizenship voting requirements amid legal challenges to an executive order attempting to make the mandate national.

“Even if not a single tenet of this executive order stands up to legal challenge, the goal of the executive order was and is to send clear marching orders to the states and Congress to tell them exactly what President Trump wants them to be doing,” said Liz Avore, senior policy advisor at the Voting Rights Lab. “And they’re listening.”

Avore said 22 states this year are considering or have considered bills that require proof of citizenship, which voting rights advocates say risks disenfranchising millions of Americans without ready access to the proper documents.

Trump’s executive order to end birthright citizenship for the children of people who are in the U.S. illegally has been halted nationwide by three district courts around the country.

The Republican administration had sought to narrow those orders to allow for the policy to take effect in parts or most of the country while court challenges play out. That’s expected to be the focus of the high court arguments.

▶ Read more about the birthright citizenship case

Trump asked Bessent to comment on the trade negotiations during the president’s Oval Office meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

Bessent noted that he and other administration officials held talks Wednesday with Japan. He said South Korean officials will be visiting next week.

The bill, which the House passed last week, aims to require proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote for federal elections. It’s one of Trump’s top election-related priorities and Democrats and voting rights advocates have warned it risks disenfranchising millions of Americans without ready access to the proper documents.

“It makes no sense,” Fontes said Thursday. “This is an alleged solution that searching desperately for a problem. And the solution is far more dangerous to the rights of American voters.”

Fontes also criticized Trump’s executive order on elections as a “nonsensical attack” on trust in elections.

“American citizens’ rights are under attack, and it’s a damn tragedy it’s coming from the White House,” he said.

After lots of false starts, the president said the U.S. is ready to deal with Ukraine on access to critical minerals in the country.

“We have a minerals deal,” Trump said in the Oval Office.

Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were originally supposed to sign such an agreement when the Ukrainian leader visited the White House, only to have their meeting end in acrimony.

“Oh, he’ll leave,” Trump said in the Oval Office as he welcomed Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni. “If I ask him to, he’ll be out of there.”

He did not respond to a follow-up question on whether he would try and remove the Federal Reserve chairman.

The Italian premier said in the Oval Office that Trump has accepted an invitation for an official trip to her country.

No date was disclosed. Vice President JD Vance is leaving Friday for his own visit to Rome.

She flattered the U.S. leader in their meeting, saying “the goal for me is to make the West great again,” echoing Trump’s campaign slogan. Meloni said she shares his fight against “woke” ideology.

Trump also praised his Italian counterpart. “She has taken Europe by storm,” he said.

The president opened his Oval Office meeting with the Italian premier with comments on the shooting.

Trump said he’d been “fully briefed.”

“It’s a horrible thing. It’s horrible that things like this takes place,” he said.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland is in El Salvador to push for Abrego Garcia’s release after he was sent there by the Trump administration in March despite an immigration court order preventing his deportation. He said in a video posted on X that his car was stopped when he tried to enter the prison Thursday to check on Abrego Garcia’s health.

“Today’s purpose was just to see what his health condition is,” Van Hollen said in the video. He said his car was stopped by soldiers about 3 kilometers from the prison, even as they let other cars go on.

Abrego Garcia is a a Salvadoran citizen who was living in Maryland when he was deported.

▶ Read more about Kilman Abrego Garcia’s case

The official invitation came at the start of their White House meeting.

Vice President JD Vance is already scheduled to head to Rome later this week and will meet with Meloni while he’s there.

Trump visited Italy during his first term when he attended the 2017 Group of Seven summit in Taormina.

The president played down the likelihood of reaching any trade agreements as a result of his tariffs.

Trump told reporters while meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni that “at a certain point” deals would come together.

“We’re in no rush,” said Trump, saying he liked the revenues he expected the tariffs to generate for the U.S. government.

That’s according to a Treasury spokesperson who spoke on the condition of anonymity to preview the agency’s thinking on the topic.

Direct File is an electronic system for filing tax returns directly to the agency for free, developed during the Biden administration. The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the Trump administration plans to eliminate the program according to two people familiar with the decision.

The Treasury official, in an emailed statement, said the department viewed Direct File as a “very disappointing” program that costs tens of millions of dollars a year and was used by about 200,000 people out of 300 million, or less than 0.1% of taxpayers.

However, the program wasn’t available in all 50 states. It was launched as a pilot in 2024 in 12 states, then made permanent and expanded to 25 states for the 2025 filing season and was still growing. The agency accepted 140,803 submitted returns in 2024.

— Fatima Hussein

The two leaders posed for photos together before heading inside.

John Ullyot was one of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s initial communications office hires and oversaw some of its most visible but controversial moves, including a broad edict to the military services to strip away online images that were considered a promotion of diversity, equity or inclusion.

That directive led to public outcry when images of national heroes like Jackie Robinson and others were removed.

Ullyot told Politico on Wednesday he decided to resign.

A senior defense official told The Associated Press on Thursday that Hegseth’s office asked Ullyot to resign. The official familiar with the decision spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details that haven’t been made public.

The departure isn’t tied to an investigation into unauthorized disclosures of information, which so far has led three other senior Pentagon aides to be put on leave.

President Donald Trump speaks as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

University of California, Berkeley undergraduate Eva Winter holds a sign over her head while protesting against the Trump administration during a Day of Action for Higher Education on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Demonstrations gather at the University of California, Berkeley to protest the Trump administration as part of a Day of Action for Higher Education on Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Berkeley, Calif. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

President Donald Trump holds a signed proclamation regarding commercial fishing in the Pacific as he speaks in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks as he signs executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump meets with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Oval Office of the White House, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks before a luncheon with Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Thursday, April 17, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks during the Commander-in-Chief trophy presentation to the Navy Midshipman football team in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

President Donald Trump speaks during the Commander-in-Chief trophy presentation to the Navy Midshipman football team in the East Room of the White House, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Israel's ongoing attacks on Iranian nuclear sites killed 78 people and wounded more that 320 on Friday, said Iran's ambassador to the United Nations. The strikes killed generals and scientists, but the ambassador told the U.N. Security Council that “the overwhelming majority” of victims were civilians.

Iran retaliated with two waves of long-range missiles targeting Israel's commercial capital, Tel Aviv, Medics said the first wave wounded at least 34 people and the second injured seven more.

Israel launched the attacks on Iran amid simmering tensions over Tehran’s rapidly advancing nuclear program. For years, Israel had threatened such a strike and successive American administrations had sought to prevent it, fearing it would ignite a wider conflict across the Middle East and possibly be ineffective at destroying Iran’s dispersed and hardened nuclear program.

As Iranian projectiles and Israeli interceptor rockets left trails of smoke and flame across the night sky on Friday, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed not to let Israel “escape safely from this great crime.”

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UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel and Iran to halt their attacks on one another, while calling for diplomacy.

“Israeli bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites. Iranian missile strikes in Tel Aviv. Enough escalation. Time to stop. Peace and diplomacy must prevail,” Guterres wrote on X on Saturday.

Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency is reporting a fire at Tehran’s Mehrabad International Airport, posting a video on X of a column of smoke and orange flames rising from what the outlet said was the airport.

Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv said it has treated seven people hurt by the second Iranian barrage; six had light injuries and the seventh was moderately wounded.

Sirens and the boom of explosions, possibly from Israeli interceptors, could be heard in the sky over Jerusalem and Tel Aviv early Saturday.

AP journalists in Tel Aviv could see what appeared to be at least two Iranian missiles hit the ground, but there was no immediate word of casualties.

The Israeli military said another long-range Iranian missile attack was taking place and urged civilians, already rattled by the first wave of projectiles, to head to shelter. Around three dozen people were wounded by that first wave.

The Iranian outlet Nour News, which has close links with the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, said a fresh wave was being launched.

The sound of explosions and Iranian air defense systems firing at targets was echoing across the center of the capital, Tehran, shortly after midnight on Saturday.

Additionally, an Associated Press reporter could hear air raid sirens near their home.

Although roughly equal in the number of troops, the two militaries bring strikingly different tactics and firepower.

Iran boasts a large standing force but also relies on proxies and undercover operations that have been severely disabled in recent months by U.S. and Israeli actions.

Israel, meanwhile, relies on both subterfuge and robust regular ground and air forces that are apparently unmatched in the region.

It’s unclear how long Iran could keep up firing hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel. However, according to Israeli media reports, the cost of a single Iron Dome interception is about $50,000, while the other systems can run more than $2 million per missile.

▶ Read more about Israel and Iran’s militaries

Iran’s long-range missile attack was a stiff challenge for Israel’s air-defense system, which has intercepted projectiles fired from Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran since the start of the war on Oct. 7, 2023.

Those have ranged from short-range rockets to medium-range missiles to attack drones to ballistic missiles like those fired Friday night.

Over the decades, Israel has developed a sophisticated system capable of detecting incoming fire and deploying only if the projectile is headed toward a population center or sensitive military or civilian infrastructure. Israeli leaders say the system isn’t 100% guaranteed, but credit it with preventing serious damage and countless casualties.

▶ Read more about Israel’s air-defense system

In Ramat Gan, rescuers were trying to get out 15 people from a house they were trapped in after it was hit by a missile. The city is east of Tel Aviv.

Yossi Griver from Israel’s home front command said authorities were trying to free them. He said people were eating Friday night dinner when their house was struck, and many are older adults.

The area was badly hit Friday night. The AP saw at least three damaged houses, one where the front was nearly entirely torn off, as well as burnt out cars.

U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that Israeli strikes destroyed the above-ground section of Iran’s main nuclear facility at Natanz.

He said all the electrical infrastructure and emergency power generators were destroyed as well as a section of the facility where uranium was enriched up to 60%.

The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged the infrastructure there, he said.

The U.S. official did not say how the U.S. provided assistance, however both U.S. Air Force fighter aircraft and destroyer-based missile defenses have intercepted missiles in previous attacks.

The U.S. has been moving assets nearer to Israel to assist in missile intercepts and to provide better protection of U.S. bases in the region.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations.

In Ramat Gan, rescuers were trying to get out 15 people from a house they were trapped in after it was hit by a missile. Yossi Griver from Israel’s home front command said authorities were trying to free them. He said people were eating Friday night dinner when their house was struck, many are elderly people.

The area was badly hit Friday night. The AP saw at least three damaged houses, one where the front was nearly entirely torn off, as well as burnt out cars.

Iranian missiles could be seen from as far away as Beirut, leaving behind yellow streaks like comets as they descended on Israel.

And in other videos posted on social media, the missiles burned fast through the air above Jerusalem’s Old City.

Associated Press journalists reported the rumbling of explosions sounded like a thunderstorm.

Video taken by AP journalists shows multiple Israeli interceptor rockets slicing through the night sky over Tel Aviv, trailing columns of smoke and occasionally exploding in balls of yellow fire. Some of the Iranian rockets hurtled downward in a straight line, and a few could be seen impacting in flashes of orange that lit up the glittering skyline of Israel’s commercial hub.

In a recorded message to the nation broadcast as Iranian missiles flew toward Israel, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said the military was prepared to counterattack.

“Don’t think that they (Israel) hit and it’s over. No. They started the work and started the war. We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed,” he said.

The rumble of explosions could be heard throughout Jerusalem, and Israeli TV stations showed plumes of smoke rising in Tel Aviv after an apparent missile strike. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The army said dozens of missiles were launched.

The army has ordered residents across the country to move into bomb shelters.

The Israeli military’s Home Front Command has instructed people to move into shelters ahead of an expected Iranian missile attack.

The army says Iran has launched missiles, and the safety order applies to the entire country.

Israel’s Channel 13 TV says the missiles are expected to take about 10 minutes to arrive.

Israel’s military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said that despite Israel’s attack, “Iran has capability to hurt Israel’s civilian front in a meaningful way.”

Defrin’s briefing was cut short. An Israeli military official says this was due to an incoming Iranian attack on central Israel. The official spoke on condition pending a formal announcement.

The facility in Isfahan, some 350 kilometers (215 miles) southeast of Tehran, employs thousands of nuclear scientists. It also is home to three Chinese research reactors and laboratories associated with the country’s atomic program.

French President Emmanuel Macron says a top-level U.N. conference on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians has been postponed because of renewed tensions in the Mideast.

France and Saudi Arabia were due to co-host the conference in New York next week, and Macron had been scheduled to attend.

Macron said Friday it was postponed for logistical and security reasons and because some Palestinian representatives couldn’t come to the event.

American fighter jets are patrolling the sky in the Middle East to protect personnel and installations, according to a U.S. official. The official spoke Friday on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing operations.

It comes at the same time as the Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, which is capable of defending against ballistic missiles, to begin sailing from the western Mediterranean Sea toward the eastern Mediterranean. A second destroyer also has begun moving forward so it can be available if requested by the White House.

The Fordo nuclear enrichment facility is buried hundreds of meters underground.

Nour News, which is close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, reported on its Telegram channel that two explosions were heard from the area nearby.

Separately, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported that a radar site near Tabriz was attacked, according to an official in the East Azerbaijan province.

Majid Farshi told IRNA that 11 military sites in East Azerbaijan province have been attacked, and that 18 people were killed, including one Red Crescent aid worker.

Israelis are on high alert bracing for a larger response from Iran, which has already launched over 100 drones toward Israel in retaliation for Friday's attacks.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or fallen shrapnel in Israel. A loud boom could be heard in the Holy City, possibly from Israeli interceptor fire.

The Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen did not immediately claim the attack.

Civilian witnesses told The Associated Press they heard what sounded like loud explosions in neighborhoods in the capital’s east, west and center, while an AP journalist in the city’s north also heard a blast.

Air defense systems were heard going off Friday night in Tehran. There was no immediate acknowledgement from authorities.

In a video statement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel told the U.S. about its plans to attack Iran in advance. “They knew about the attack. What will they do now? I leave that to President Trump.”

Netanyahu said he ordered an attack plan in November 2024, shortly after the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah — one if Iran’s strongest proxies. That’s when Israel forecasted Iran would start rapidly advancing its nuclear program.

In a video statement circulated to journalists Friday evening, Netanyahu said the attack was supposed to happen in April but was postponed.

Since Tehran and Washington don’t have diplomatic relations, Switzerland has looked out for America’s interests in Iran since the 1979 U.S. Embassy hostage crisis.

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency says Isa Kameli, an assistant to foreign minister, told the Swiss ambassador that Friday’s Israeli attacks were a crime and said, “It is not possible to imagine that invasion acts by the Zionist regime have taken place without cooperation and coordination and at least green light from the U.S.”

The military said it was calling up reservists from different military units as “part of preparations for defense and offense” as its attack on Iran continues.

The move comes as Israel braces for further counterattacks from Iran or Iranian proxy groups on Israel’s borders.

Israel’s targeted killings of officials and scientists were “clear instances of state terrorism,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a letter to the U.N. Security Council requesting an emergency meeting.

In the letter obtained by The Associated Press, he said Iran affirms its right to self defense under the U.N. Charter.

“This right is non-negotiable,” Araghchi said. “Israel will come to deeply regret this reckless aggression and the grave strategic miscalculation it has made.”

The Iranian minister urged the Security Council, which will meet at 3 p.m. in New York, to “take urgent and concrete measures to hold the Israeli regime fully accountable for its crimes.”

Israel closed all checkpoints to the Israeli-occupied West Bank Friday as the country attacked Iran, a military official said Friday. The move sealed off entry and exit to the territory, meaning that Palestinians could not leave without special coordination.

The official spoke on the condition of anonymity in line with military recommendations.

Around 3 million Palestinians live in the West Bank under Israeli military rule. With the world’s attention focused on Gaza, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have grown in size, frequency and intensity.

The crackdown has also left tens of thousands of Palestinians unemployed, as they can no longer work the mostly menial jobs in Israel that paid higher wages.

Many Israelis are hunkered down close to home in Tel Aviv, the country’s economic hub on the Mediterranean coast.

Shops were open but the streets, beaches, and parks were mostly deserted. Earlier Friday, many people had rushed to supermarkets to buy bottled water and other supplies.

The city canceled its annual Pride Parade, which normally draws tens of thousands of people for a march and street party.

Internet usage in Iran dramatically declined Friday after Iranian authorities restricted access in the country following the Israeli attacks, according to internet-access advocacy group Net Blocks.org.

The group shared the information in a graph posted to X Friday, saying their data corroborated “user reports of poor service.”

Iran’s current capabilities are potentially “more threatening to the U.S. military than to Israel,” said Fabian Hinz, an air warfare expert at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London.

That’s because there are multiple U.S. military bases in the region and Iran has a “huge arsenal” of shorter range missiles developed specifically to target U.S. bases as well as “lots of anti-ship capabilities,” Hinz said.

While Iran fired around 300 ballistic missiles at Israel last year, Hinz said, Tehran did not fire any of their short range missiles which could be used to attack U.S. bases.

“Think of the Iranian shipping threat as similar in quality to the Houthi threat, but much larger in quantity,” Hinz said.

Two U.S. officials said Friday that the Navy has directed the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner to begin sailing toward the Eastern Mediterranean and has directed a second destroyer to begin moving forward, so it can be available if requested by the White House.

President Donald Trump is meeting with his National Security Council principals to discuss the situation. The two U.S. officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to provide details not yet made public.

The Hudner is an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer that is capable of defending against ballistic missiles.

On Oct. 1, 2024, U.S. Navy destroyers fired about a dozen interceptors in defense of Israel as the country came under attack by more than 200 missiles fired by Iran.

Iran’s U.N. Mission said it has asked for an emergency meeting of the Security Council following the Israeli attacks.

The emergency session is likely to take place Friday afternoon, the mission said.

Israel told the Trump administration that large-scale attacks were coming and expected Iranian retaliation would be severe, U.S. officials said, leading the United States to order the evacuations of some nonessential embassy staffers and authorize the voluntary departure of military dependents in the region.

The officials were speaking on condition of anonymity to describe private diplomatic discussions.

Special envoy Steve Witkoff still plans to go to Oman this weekend for talks on Tehran’s nuclear program, but it’s not clear if the Iranians would participate, officials said.

The political office for Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis condemned Israel’s attacks on Iran, saying that Iran has the “right to defend itself and develop its nuclear program.”

“Israel is an aggressive entity that threatens not only Palestine but also the security and stability of the region and the entire nation,” a statement read.

“Israel’s claims about the Iranian nuclear program are baseless, and it has no right to be the region’s policeman, given its nuclear arsenal.”

“We declare our solidarity with the Islamic Republic of Iran in the face of the brutal Zionist aggression, which primarily stems from Iran’s support for the Palestinian people and its significant backing of their honorable resistance fighters,” said Abu Ubaida, spokesperson for Hamas’s armed wing.

He also mourned the deaths of senior Iranian leaders and others killed in the strike, condemning the attack as “cowardly.”

In an interview with ABC News, U.S. President Donald Trump called the Israeli strikes on Iran “excellent” and previewed more attacks.

“I think it’s been excellent. We gave them a chance and they didn’t take it,” Trump told ABC on Friday morning. “They got hit hard, very hard. They got hit about as hard as you’re going to get hit. And there’s more to come, a lot more.”

In a further post on the Truth Social platform, Trump added: “Two months ago I gave Iran a 60 day ultimatum to ‘make a deal.’”

“They should have done it! Today is day 61. I told them what to do, but they just couldn’t get there. Now they have, perhaps, a second chance!” he wrote Friday.

Iran has confirmed that Israel killed Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guard’s missile program.

Iranian state television made the acknowledgment Friday afternoon. The confirmation came a short time after Israel said its strikes killed Hajizadeh.

The Israeli military said military jets hit a site where Revolutionary Guard officials had “assembled in an underground command center,” allegedly “to prepare for an attack on the state of Israel,” and killed Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh along with two other senior officials.

It did not offer details or information to support the claim.

“Hajizadeh publicly declared his commitment to Israel’s destruction at various events in recent years and played a central role in developing the Iranian regime’s plan for Israel’s destruction,” the Israelis said.

It also linked those killed to an attack on Saudi Arabia in 2019.

Israel claimed Friday it killed Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Revolutionary Guard's missile program in Iran.

Iran did not immediately acknowledge his death officially, though rumors of his death had been circulating for some time online.

Hajizadeh is a major commander within the Guard, overseeing its ballistic missile arsenal.

Museums in Iran are taking the extraordinary step of closing down until further notice after attacks by Israel, and were transferring valuable items to secure vaults, officials announced Friday.

The state-affiliated Borna news agency reported the order by Ali Darabi, Iran’s deputy minister and cultural heritage chief.

Such moves have been done only in extraordinary circumstances in Iran, including the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the 1980s Iran-Iraq war and the coronavirus outbreak.

Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has replaced two top military commanders killed in a wave of Israeli strikes on Friday.

State TV said he tapped Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi as the new head of the armed forces, replacing Gen. Mohammad Bagheri. Mousavi was previously the top army commander.

Khamenei chose Mohammad Pakpour to lead the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, replacing Gen. Hossein Salami.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, created after its 1979 Islamic Revolution, is one of the main power centers within the country’s theocracy.

Israeli security officials say the country’s Mossad spy agency smuggled weapons into Iran ahead of Friday’s strikes that were used to target its defenses from within.

Two security officials spoke on condition of anonymity on Friday to discuss the highly secretive missions. It was not possible to independently confirm their claims. There was no official comment.

The officials said a base for launching explosive drones was established inside Iran and that the drones were activated during Friday’s attack to target missile launchers at an Iranian base near Tehran.

They said Israel had also smuggled precision weapons into central Iran and positioned them near surface-to-air missile systems. They said it also deployed strike systems on vehicles. Both were activated as the strikes began, in order to target Iran’s defenses, the officials said.

--By Josef Federman and Julia Frankel

Smoke rises after a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

An explosion is seen during a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Tomer Neuberg)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A view of Jerusalem's Old City, with the Dome of the Rock shrine in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, closed to worshippers after Israel's Homefront Command banned public gatherings following an Israeli military strike on Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

FILE - Missiles are carried on a truck as an Iranian army band leader conducts the music band during Army Day parade at a military base in northern Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept missiles over Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Smoke rises after a missile attack in Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israel's Ben Gurion Airport is empty of passengers following an Israeli military strike on Iran, in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

An Iranian protester holds up an anti-U.S. placard and a poster of the late revolutionary guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. attack in Iraq in 2020, in an anti-Israeli gathering in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

A firefighter calls out his colleagues at the scene of an explosion in a residence compound in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Firefighters work the scene of an explosion at a residence compound in northern Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Residents watch a damaged apartment in Tehran, Iran, early Friday, June 13, 2025. Israel attacked Iran's capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran.(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises up after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Debris from an apartment building is seen on top of parked cars after a strike in Tehran, Iran, early Friday, June 13, 2025. Israel attacked Iran's capital early Friday, with explosions booming across Tehran.(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises up after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Smoke rises up to the sky, in Tehran, Iran, Friday, June 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)