Mojtaba Khamenei chosen as Iran's next supreme leader, Iranian state media reports

Ukrainian interceptor drone specialists will be deployed to the Middle East "in the coming days" to assist in the defense of U.S. bases, a Ukrainian official told ABC News.

The Ukrainian official said the deployment will include interceptor drone pilots and electronic warfare specialists.

The source refrained from naming specific countries for operational security reasons but stressed that the support provided by Ukraine will be focused on defending U.S. military bases in the region.

-ABC News' Oleksiy Pshemyskiy

France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier strike group will enter the Mediterranean Sea Saturday, France's Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin said on French TV Thursday night.

Vautrin said the Charles de Gaulle had left its previous location in northern Europe and would pass through the Straight of Gibraltar and into the Mediterranean late Friday and into Saturday.

On Tuesday, President Emmanuel Macron announced that France's only aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, would be deployed to the Mediterranean to support Cyprus and France's gulf Arab allies.

France insists its operations in the Middle East are and will remain "strictly defensive" in nature and that France is playing no role in assisting the U.S.-Israeli offensive operations against Iran.

-ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge

The Israeli Defense Forces say that they are conducting "a broad-scale wave of 26 strikes in the Dahieh area of Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure," according to a statement released Friday morning.

Among the targets were an executive council’s command center and a facility storing UAVs used for attacks against Israel, according to the IDF.

"Prior to the strikes, measures were taken to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians," the IDF said.

The Israel Defense Forces say that "in historic cooperation" with the United States, 80% of Iran’s air defense systems have been destroyed and they have achieved "near-complete air superiority over Iranian skies."

“This is truly historic cooperation. The U.S. Armed Forces and the IDF, the two strongest militaries in the world, control the skies over the world’s largest terror state,” said IDF Chief of the General Staff of Israel Eyal Zamir in a statement on U.S.-Israel cooperation in Operation Roaring Lion.

"We neutralized and destroyed more than 60% of ballistic missile launchers, a significant achievement that reduces harm to the home front and saves lives," Zamir continued. "This is an ongoing effort. However, I emphasize: the threat has not yet been removed. Every missile is lethal and poses a danger."

"We are fighting based on shared interests and shared values. We are fighting shoulder to shoulder. They are true friends," Zamir said.