The US Embassy in Baghdad was targeted in a missile attack on Friday night, according to reports.

The missile struck a helipad at the embassy, the Associated Press reported.

Smoke was seen rising from the diplomatic mission in video posted on social media by Sabereen News, a pro-Iranian militia outlet in Iraq.

The attack took place shortly after two fighters belonging to an Iran-backed militant group were killed in Baghdad, AFP reported, citing sources. 

The embassy is located in Baghdad’s heavily fortified “green zone.” 

It’s unclear if anyone was injured in the attack. 

A security alert posted by the embassy hours before the attack warned that “Iran and the terrorist militia groups allied with it pose a significant threat to public safety in Iraq.” 

“Attacks targeting US citizens, US interests, and critical infrastructure have been observed,” the embassy warned. “These groups have also attacked US companies and energy infrastructure operated by the United States, and they are likely to continue targeting them.

“In addition, Iran-aligned terrorist militias have launched attacks on hotels frequented by foreigners and other facilities linked to the United States throughout Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. U.S. citizens also face a risk of kidnapping.”

The embassy urged Americans to “exercise vigilance, maintain a low profile, and avoid areas that could make them potential targets” and provided guidance for US citizens wishing to leave Iraq. 

Last week, the US Embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital city of Riyadh was damaged in a suspected Iranian drone strike. 

The attack sparked a fire but the embassy was not severely damaged. 

Five US Air Force refueling planes were damaged in an Iranian missile strike at a Saudi Arabian air base, according to a report.

The aircraft were at the Prince Sultan air base when they struck sometime this week, but are salvageable and undergoing repairs, two US officials told The Wall Street Journal.

No casualties were reported in the Iranian attack.

On Thursday, another US Air Force refueling plane – a KC-135 Stratotanker – collided with another aircraft over western Iraq, killing six crew members.

Just before departing North Carolina to return to Washington, Vance was asked again about his reported views on the Iran war.

"The way the president makes these decisions is to talk to a lot of people," the veep said before boarding Air Force Two. "Obviously, we're thinking about various ins and outs, various options, what this looks like, how to accomplish our goals, what our goals should be.

"And I think it's important for the President United States to be able to have that conversation with his team, without his team then running their mouth to the American media.

"So part of what makes our national security team so cohesive is that we all trust each other. We all have a very free exchange of ideas. I'd like to keep that going."

Politico reported Friday morning that Vance was "skeptical" and "just opposes" the decision to launch Operation Epic Freedom, with one source caveating that the VP was "fully on board" once the bombs began falling.

The Pentagon is redeploying the USS Tripoli amphibious assault ship to the Middle East as the American military works to dislodge Iranian influence over the vital Strait of Hormuz.

The Tripoli, which resembles an aircraft carrier but is smaller and operates closer to shore, is departing Japan with an attached Marine expeditionary unit consisting of roughly 5,000 Marines and sailors, the Wall Street Journal first reported.

The 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit will take about two weeks to arrive in the Middle East, Fox News chief national sec Jennifer Griffin reported, adding that a smaller contingent of about 2,500 Marines are also part of the repositioning.

“Due to operational security, we do not discuss future or hypothetical movements," a Pentagon official told The Post.

READ MORE

Vice President JD Vance declined to say what advice he gave President Trump about the war on Iran after reports emerged he was "skeptical" of the decision to strike the Islamic Republic.

Vance pointed out that national security deliberations take place in the White House Situation Room and are classified.

"I hate to disappoint you, but I'm not going to show up here in front of God, and everybody else, and tell you exactly what I said in that classified room," he told reporters after delivering remarks in North Carolina.

"Partially because I don't want to go to prison, and partially because I think it's important for the president of the United States to be able to talk to his advisers, without those advisers running their mouth to the American media."

The State Department announced Friday that Iranian citizens can earn up to $10 million and the right to move to America if they inform on the whereabouts of 10 senior Islamic Republic leaders.

"Got information on these Iranian terrorist leaders? Send us a tip. It could make you eligible for a reward and relocation," the department's Rewards for Justice program tweeted.

People with knowledge of their locations can share that information via a Tor browser tip line or the secure Signal messaging app, the department said.

Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and national security adviser Ali Larijani are the best-known figures on the list.

The US previously used playing cards in 2003 to identify wanted Iraqi officials following George W. Bush's decision to invade and topple dictator Saddam Hussein.

READ MORE

President Trump has said that seizing Iran's Kharg Island fuel depot is not currently a priority — but he could quickly change his thinking.

"It’s not high on the list, but it’s one of so many different things, and I can change my mind in seconds.”Trump told Fox News Radio host Brian Kilmeade in an interview aired Friday morning.

Kharg Island, located about 16 miles off Iran's coast in the Persian Gulf, is the loading site for roughly 90% of the Islamic Republic's fuel exports.

Trump left the option on the table as Iran continues its closure of the Strait of Hormuz to most international shipping, causing a global spike in oil prices, with Brent crude topping $101 per barrel as of midday Friday.

President Trump has claimed he will know "in my bones" when the time has come to end the war against Iran.

"When I feel it — feel it in my bones," Trump told Fox News Radio host Brian Kilmeade in an interview broadcast Friday.

In the earliest days of the war, Trump estimated that combat operations would last "four weeks or so" -- but other officials in his administration have refrained from speculating about timetables.

Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel confirmed Friday that his government is in talks with the US — after President Trump floated a "friendly takeover" of the Communist island.

"These talks have been aimed at finding ‌solutions through dialogue to the bilateral differences we have between the two nations," Diaz-Canel said. "International factors that have facilitated these exchanges."

He said the talks are being conducted "on the basis of equality and respect for both countries' political systems, sovereignty and self-determination of our governments."

Trump cut off Venezuelan oil shipments to the island after his Jan. 3 raid on Caracas, which toppled socialist ally Nicholas Maduro, and has threatened to tariff any country that sells oil to Cuba.

"It may be a friendly takeover. It may not be a friendly takeover," Trump said Monday. "It wouldn't matter because they're really in — they're down to, as they say, fumes. They have no energy. They have no money. They're in deep trouble on a humanitarian basis."

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer formally asked one of Jeffery Epstein’s Manhattan jail guards to come before his committee later this month.

Tova Noel is a former Metropolitan Correctional Center guard who was on duty the night Epstein died in August 2019. His death was ruled a suicide but is the subject of numerous conspiracy theories.

Comer (R-Ky.) wrote to Noel, saying "the Committee believes you have information that will assist in its investigation" of Epstein and his network.

Noel is one of two MCC workers accused of falsifying records on the night of Epstein's death. Chase Bank also flagged several cash deposits in Noel’s bank account in a “suspicious activity report” to the FBI in November 2019.

“We have a lot of questions” for the guard, Comer told Fox News earlier this week.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth blasted CNN Friday during a Pentagon press conference, saying, "The sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better."

Hegseth singled out a report that the Trump administration underestimated the Iran war's impact on the Strait of Hormuz, calling it "patently ridiculous" and "fundamentally unserious."

"For decades, Iran has threatened shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. This is always what they do, hold the strait hostage. CNN doesn't think we thought of that," he scoffed.

"Another example of a fake headline that I saw yesterday: 'War Widening.' Here's a real headline for you, for an actual patriotic press, how about: 'Iran shrinking, going underground' ... The only thing that is widening is our advantage."

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said Friday that Iran's missile volume is "down 90%" and that its one-way suicide drone attacks have decreased by 95%.

"Iran has no air defenses. Iran has no air force. Iran has no navy. Their missiles, their missile launchers and drones are being destroyed or shot out of the sky. Their missile volume is down 90%. Their one-way attack drones yesterday, down 95%," Hegseth said at a Pentagon press conference.

"As of two days ago, Iran's entire ballistic missile production capacity — every company that builds every component of those missiles — has been functionally defeated, destroyed," he said.

"Buildings, complexes and factory lines all across Iran, destroyed. So we're shooting down and destroying what missiles they still have in stock, but more importantly, ensuring that they have no ability to make more. Their production lines, their military plants, their defense innovation centers, defeated."

READ MORE