White House says Iranian missile attacks on US, allies down 90% since war began

WASHINGTON

Iranian missile attacks on the US and its allies have dropped 90% since Washington and Tel Aviv began their attacks last weekend, the White House said Friday.

"Their retaliatory ballistic missile strikes against the United States and our allies in the region have decreased 90% just over the course of the last six days," spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said during an interview with Fox News.

Regional tensions have escalated since the US and Israel launched a large-scale attack on Iran on Saturday, killing more than 1,000 people, including Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, over 150 schoolgirls, and senior military officials.

Iran has retaliated with sweeping barrages of its own that have targeted US bases, diplomatic facilities, and military personnel across the region, as well as multiple Israeli cities. At least six US service members have been killed.

Leavitt confirmed that Trump will travel to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware on Saturday to attend the dignified transfer ceremony of the service members' remains.

Iran's drone and missile attacks have continued to escalate, with reports indicating that Iran fired missiles laden with cluster munitions at Tel Aviv on Thursday night.

Asked about the sharp increase in oil prices that has resulted from the regional instability caused by the war, Leavitt said the focus should remain "on the short term and the temporary goals of Operation Epic Fury to obliterate the Iranian regime."

That, she said, "will be a very good thing for the energy and oil markets and for oil prices across the globe in the long term, when you no longer have a terrorist regime that is restricting the free flow of energy."

Trump earlier rejected any negotiated end to the conflict short of Iran's "unconditional surrender," maintaining that he must have a role in deciding who Tehran's next leader will be.

Asked what Trump meant, Leavitt said the president will determine that goal is met "when he, as Commander in Chief of the United States military and the leader of the free world, determines that Iran can no longer pose a threat to the United States of America, and to our troops and our personnel in the Middle East."