Israeli jets strike Tehran internal security terror hubs

Israeli warplanes struck dozens of Iranian internal security and Basij command centers in Tehran in the latest wave of a joint U.S.-Israeli air campaign targeting the Islamic Republic’s military and repression apparatus, the Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday.

The Basij militia led efforts to suppress nationwide protests in Iran in December and January, during which tens of thousands were killed in a crackdown by the regime. U.S. President Donald Trump on Feb. 20 accused government forces of killing 32,000 people “over a relatively short period of time.”

The IDF said the Israeli Air Force also hit the Iranian army’s Ground Forces Supply and Logistics Directorate, as well as missile launchers and other systems, targeting forces used to enforce regime control and suppress domestic dissent.

“The IDF will continue to degrade the Iranian terror regime’s infrastructure,” the military’s statement concluded.

The morning update on the fifth day of Israel’s “Operation Roaring Lion” and the American “Operation Epic Fury” came hours after the IDF announced that it had “begun a broad wave of strikes targeting the Iranian terror regime’s launch sites, aerial defense systems and additional infrastructure.”

Israeli strike hits covert Iranian nuclear site

Israeli forces struck a covert Iranian nuclear-weapons facility on Tuesday, targeting a compound where a team of scientists had been secretly working to develop a critical component for nuclear weapons, the IDF said.

The IDF identified the site as the partially underground “Minzadehei” compound on the outskirts of Tehran. IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin confirmed in his daily press briefing that the secret nuclear headquarters was “destroyed.”

“The strike removes a key component in the Iranian regime’s capability to develop nuclear weapons and joins a series of strikes conducted during Operation Rising Lion that were essential to eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat,” IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani said, referring to the 12-day Iran war in June 2025.

IAF F-35 shoots down Iranian jet over Tehran

An Israeli Air Force F-35I “Adir” stealth fighter shot down an Iranian Air Force YAK-130 warplane over Tehran, the IDF said on Wednesday.

The incident marks the first time an F-35 “Adir” fighter jet has downed a manned aircraft in combat, according to the IDF.

It was also reportedly the first Israeli air-to-air engagement with a manned enemy plane in about 40 years. The last such encounter occurred in 1985, when Israeli F-15s shot down two Syrian MiG-23s over Lebanon.

The IDF published audio of a conversation between IAF Commander Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar and the pilot, in which Bar tells him that “the historic shootdown over the Tehran skies is a testament to the strength of the Israeli Air Force and to your personal determination,” adding that “the next mission is already awaiting you.”

Israeli jets hit Iranian systems at Tehran airport

The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it struck defense and detection systems at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport during the latest wave of attacks on Iranian targets.

The systems, described by the IDF as used by the Iranian regime and posing a threat to Israeli aircraft, were dismantled as part of ongoing efforts to degrade Iran’s military infrastructure across the country.

Israeli strikes hit Ghadr missile hub in Isfahan

The IDF struck dozens of sites across Iran overnight Tuesday, including a facility in Isfahan used to store, produce and launch ballistic missiles such as the Ghadr.

The Ghadr is an Iranian medium-range ballistic missile capable of striking targets across much of the Middle East.

The IDF said the site was targeted to reduce rocket fire from the area and vowed to continue acting against Iranian infrastructure threatening Israel.

In the same wave, Israeli jets also hit Iranian air defense systems as part of an effort to extend Israel’s aerial control over parts of Iran’s airspace, the military said.

IAF demolished 300 Iranian missile launchers

Three-hundred Iranian missile launchers have been dismantled since the start of “Operation Roaring Lion” on Feb. 28, the IDF revealed on Tuesday night.

“This is the result of more than 1,600 sorties and a systematic, around-the-clock effort to locate and target launchers and missile stockpiles in order to reduce fire toward the Israeli home front,” the military said.

Hundreds of fighter jets and aircraft struck hundreds of targets simultaneously in Lebanon and Iran over the past 24 hours, according to the IDF’s statement, continuing successive waves of strikes against the Iranian regime’s ballistic-missile arrays and air-defense systems.

Senior Quds Force commander killed

The IDF on Tuesday killed Daoud Ali Zadeh, the temporary commander of the Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps, in a strike in Tehran.

Ali Zadeh, who held a rank equivalent to brigadier general, had replaced Hassan Mahdavi, the previous Lebanon Corps chief killed in an earlier Israeli strike, and was described as Iran’s top commander responsible for the Lebanese arena and liaison to Hezbollah.

The IDF said Ali Zadeh previously headed the Quds Force’s Strategic Weapons Corps, helping arm Iranian proxies with strategic weapons and advising Hezbollah and others on improving their firepower.

He assumed the Lebanon post after Operation “Northern Arrows” and was involved in rebuilding Hezbollah’s capabilities and encouraging attacks on Israel, the military said, vowing to prevent Iran from further entrenching itself in Lebanon and to continue targeting Hezbollah’s efforts to rearm.

Tehran and Isfahan targets

The IDF on Tuesday carried out a wave of strikes on targets linked to Iran’s weapons industry in Tehran and Isfahan. The attacks hit industrial facilities used to produce arms, especially ballistic missiles, posing an existential threat to Israel.

The IDF said dozens of sites connected to Iran’s missile array in Isfahan, including launchers and storage depots intended for use against Israel, were also struck. The military said it would continue attacking Iranian launch and production sites to limit the regime’s ability to fire on Israel.

Over 60 strike flights in western Iran

The Israeli military said on Tuesday its air force carried out more than 60 strike flights against Iranian missile infrastructure in western Iran. The waves of strikes, directed by IDF intelligence, targeted what it called the regime’s “live fire array” in an effort to bolster Israeli aerial superiority.

Dozens of missile launchers, air defense systems and other firepower assets used by Iran were hit to degrade its missile capabilities and reduce potential fire toward Israel, the IDF said.

Katz: Any new Iranian leader is ‘target for elimination’

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday, “Any leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue the plan for Israel’s destruction, to threaten the U.S. and the free world and the countries of the region, and to oppress the Iranian nation, will be an unequivocal target for elimination.”

“It doesn’t matter what his name is or the place where he hides,” Katz added in a post on X. “The Prime Minister and I instructed the IDF to prepare and act using all means to carry out the mission as an integral part of the objectives of ‘Operation Roaring Lion.’”

Katz’s comments came amid reports that the Assembly of Experts, the Iranian body of clerics tasked with selecting a new supreme leader after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, picked his son as the most likely candidate.

The clerics were considering announcing as early as Wednesday that Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, would take his father’s place, but were reluctant to put a target on his back, Iranian officials told The New York Times.

The Assembly of Experts, comprising 88 clerics, held two meetings, one in the morning and one in the evening, according to the officials, the Times reported on Tuesday.

Iran International, a London-based, anti-regime news outlet, reported with certainty that the clerics had elected Mojtaba. However, no official Iranian source confirmed it. Analysts told Iran International that Mojtaba is known as one of the architects of the repression against Iran’s people.

He is closely linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).