The Israeli Air Force “swiftly neutralized” the launchers used in Sunday morning’s Iranian missile attacks on the Jewish state, the Israel Defense Forces announced just over an hour after the barrages.
The launchers targeted, in western Iran, were being prepared for further attacks on Israeli territory, according to an IDF spokesperson, who added that Iranian armed forces personnel operating in the area were also hit.
Subsequently, IAF aircraft targeted and struck two F-5 fighter jets belonging to the Iranian Armed Forces at Dezful Airport in Iran.
The IAF carried out an additional wave of strikes with 30 fighter jets in four areas of the Islamic Republic, targeting missile and drone launch pads, the IDF said on Sunday afternoon.
Dozens of sites were hit in simultaneously attacks on Isfahan, Bushehr, Ahvaz and, for the first time, Yazd, according to the IDF. It said around 60 munitions were dropped by fighter jets in the assault.
“As part of the wave of strikes, fighter jets targeted for the first time the Imam Hussein strategic missile headquarters in the Yazd area, where long-range Khorramshahr missiles were stored,” the IDF said, noting that some 60 missiles had been fired at the Jewish state from the site.
Simultaneously, in Isfahan, Bushehr and Ahvaz, the IDF targeted missile launch pads, air defense battery production sites, the headquarters of an Iranian drone regiment and a UAV storage facility, it announced.
Amid the airstrikes, an IAF drone identified Iranian soldiers “arming missile launchers, and eliminated them shortly afterward,” it stated.
At least 16 people were hospitalized in Israel by Iran’s Sunday morning attack, and widespread damage was reported. The Iranian attack came just hours after the United States conducted coordinated airstrikes on Iran’s key nuclear facilities at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
On Saturday, approximately 20 IAF fighter jets participated in coordinated strikes on dozens of military targets across Iran, including a facility containing components used in the production of explosive materials, as well as weapons storage and manufacturing sites. Iranian aerial defense systems were also among the targets.
The IAF carried out airstrikes in western Iran, targeting military radar detection systems and air defense batteries as part of a broader operation to establish aerial superiority over Iranian airspace.
Additionally, the IDF struck military infrastructure at the main airport in Isfahan in an effort to prevent its use by the Iranian Air Force.
Israel’s air superiority over Iran “has enabled us to strike missile command centers, UAV infrastructure, and to destroy military storage facilities and launch tunnels for rockets and missiles—as well as close the loop on launchers that had fired at Israeli territory,” said IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin.
He added that the IAF continues to systematically target Iran’s UAV command chain, disrupting planned barrages and destroying approximately 950 explosive drones before they could be launched.