Iran's "father of all bombs" answers a US threat, as Israeli jets rehearse the flight path

The IRGC promises "something new for the enemy" while Saudi airports absorb drone debris and Washington pulls diplomats from the Gulf.

Iran's "father of all bombs" answers a US threat, as Israeli jets rehearse the flight path — Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps says it is preparing to unveil a weapon it calls the "father of all bombs." Spokesman Hossein Mohbi told the Iranian news agency "Young Journalists Club" it is "something new for the enemy," and claimed Iran's missile stockpile has grown by 1.5 times since the 12-day war in June 2025 [^1]. The name reads as a deliberate mirror: the Pentagon has prepared plans to use the GBU-43/B, the "mother of all bombs," against targets in Iran. Hours earlier, dozens of Israeli fighter jets and refueling aircraft flew an aerial maneuver on Monday night into Tuesday that reached close to the Iranian border, then turned back [^2]. Israel presented it as training meant to display strength and deter Tehran. American sources told alittihad44 something sharper — that Israel may have hoped Iran would fire on the aircraft, handing it a pretext. Israeli analyst Colonel (res.) Eran Lerman called the region's trajectory "very troubling" for Israeli security [^3]. In the Gulf, the cost is already counted in bodies. The State Department ordered non-essential embassy staff and families out of Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, with spokesman Tommy Pigott citing Houthi "attacks on civilian airports and critical infrastructure causing civilian casualties and travel disruptions" [^4]. Debris from intercepting a drone aimed at an oil facility killed two workers, a Filipino and a Nepali. Wednesday evening, an attack on King Fahd International Airport in Dammam killed one person and injured eight, per the Saudi Civil Aviation Authority [^5]. Elsewhere the day moved on quieter tracks. Libya's eastern House of Representatives approved a 2019 maritime boundary deal with Turkey on Tuesday, a step Lerman flagged as a security concern [^3]. In New York, diplomatic sources told The Jerusalem Post the UAE is expected to soon nominate Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh for UN secretary-general — a bid running against the custom that Latin America's turn has come [^6]. The question hanging over the Gulf is not whether the strike plans exist. It is who blinks first on approving them. Six