The stability and future of the Iranian regime are “shrouded in uncertainty” following the joint U.S.-Israeli military campaigns against it, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on Wednesday.
“The evil structure of the ayatollah regime has been significantly cracked,” Zamir declared, speaking at a ceremony to welcome a new Boeing KC-46 “Gideon” refueling aircraft to the Israeli Air Force.
According to the Israeli military chief, “its leaders are hunted, most of its military capabilities have been destroyed, its nuclear program has been set back by years, its economy is collapsing, and its citizens have yet to grasp the scale of the disaster to which their extremist leaders have led them.”
“From these runways on which we stand, dozens of fighter and transport aircraft secretly took off on a Saturday morning [Feb. 28], flew hundreds of kilometers, and precisely struck thousands of targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime,” said Zamir. “Wave after wave of the finest air power in military history flew for weeks over various threats, dropped munitions on strategic targets and completed every mission assigned to them with unimaginable precision.”
He added, “The blows delivered by the IDF against Iran in ‘Operation Rising Lion’ and ‘Roaring Lion’ will yet be studied in history books.”
“Even at these very moments,” the military continues to operate against Iran and its proxies “on all fronts,” he added.
“In Lebanon, we are expanding our operations to deepen the damage to Hezbollah. The mission is being carried out systematically in all dimensions—from the air and from the ground—and responsibly against a battered and beaten enemy,” he continued.
The delivery of the new refueling aircraft “reflects the depth of the strategic and operational partnership between the IDF and the United States military,” Zamir told attendees.
The close cooperation between Jerusalem and Washington during the recent fighting, once again demonstrated “the strength of the alliance between Israel and the United States,” he added.
“From here, from the new Gideon Squadron, we send a clear message to all those who seek our harm: the defensive sword of Israel is sharper, longer and more determined than ever before! We will continue to fight, continue to strengthen ourselves and continue to prevail!” concluded the chief of staff.
The new refueling aircraft is the first of six planes purchased by the Israeli Defense Ministry’s procurement mission in the United States as part of the Jewish state’s force buildup effort.
The aircraft will be outfitted with Israeli systems and adapted to meet operational requirements, enabling the IAF to extend its range and maintain aerial superiority across all arenas.
Jerusalem last summer signed a follow-on contract with the United States to acquire its fifth and sixth Boeing-made refueling aircraft, supplementing the four already purchased.
The contract, valued at roughly half a billion dollars and funded through U.S. aid, marked a significant milestone in the Israeli Defense Ministry’s force buildup.
