IDF jets hit air defenses, missile launchers in western Iran

The Israel Defense Forces attacked the Islamic Republic’s aerial-defense array and ballistic launch sites, the Israeli military said on Friday.

“Air Force fighter jets, guided by precise intelligence from the Military Intelligence Directorate, in recent hours carried out a wide-scale strike targeting the Iranian regime’s air defenses in western Iran,” it stated on Friday morning.

As part of the strikes, “dozens of launchers, surface-to-surface missile storage facilities, and additional military sites were destroyed,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said later in the day. At one of the sites struck in western Iran, “a unique launch mechanism was embedded within shipping containers,” said the statement about the attacks on ballistic targets.

Dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers were also destroyed, the IDF also said, noting that the strikes on air defenses were aimed at improving the IAF’s operational freedom in Iranian airspace.

“Throughout the war, the IDF has systematically targeted the air defense systems of the Iranian regime and its proxies across the Middle East,” it said.

More than 200 Israeli jets attacked dozens of targets, including military and nuclear sites, in a “preemptive, precise, combined offensive” opening strike against the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program early on Friday.

The IDF said the attack was based on “high-quality intelligence” and “in response to the Iranian regime’s ongoing aggression against Israel.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the operation, dubbed “Rising Lion,” would “continue for as many days as it takes to remove this threat,” vowing to stop “the Iranian threat to Israel’s very survival.”

Later on Friday morning, Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that the IDF would “continue its efforts to thwart Iran’s nuclear program and remove threats to the State of Israel.”

“Iran will pay an increasingly heavy price the longer it continues its aggressive activities,” the Israeli defense minister continued.

“The precise strike on top commanders of the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian army and nuclear scientists—all involved in advancing the plan to destroy Israel—sends a strong and clear message: Whoever works toward Israel’s destruction will be eliminated,” he warned.