Illustrative image. (Israeli Defense Forces)
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has established “full aerial superiority” over the Iranian capital, Tehran, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said in a press conference on June 16.
Israeli warplanes destroyed a third of Iran’s ballistic missile launchers and disturbed “extensive parts” of its attacks on Israel, according to the spokesman, who said that a total of 65 ballistic missiles and dozens of suicides drones were launched at Israel in two barrages over the past 24 hours,
While Defrin claimed that most of the missiles and drones were intercepted, several impacts were reported across Israel overnight with at least eight people killed.
The spokesman claimed that Iran wanted to launch at least twice as many missiles at Israel overnight. However, 20 missile launchers were simultaneously targeted by the IAF before they could fire.
Some 50 fighter jets and drones also identified and struck missile storage sites, and command centers where Iranian soldiers were gathered to launch the missiles, according to the spokesman.
Since the start of the attack on Iran, codenamed Operation Rising Lion, the IDF said, it has destroyed over 120 Iranian missile launchers, which it says is a third of what the Islamic Republic had.
Additionally, the military says the IAF conducted waves of strikes in the central province of Isfahan overnight, hitting over 100 military targets.
Earlier, the IDF announced that the IAF attacked Quds Force command centers in Tehran. The centers were used “to plan terror attacks against Israel via the Iranian regime’s proxies in the Middle East,” according to the military. Ten centers were reportedly hit.
The IDF also announced that Israeli warplanes struck trucks that attempted to transport air defense systems into Tehran. Footage released by the IDF showed three systems being hit, including a Sevom Khordad transporter erector launcher and radar vehicle.
Of course, not all Israeli strikes hit military targets. According to Iranian media, a fire department building located in the city of Musiyan in the province of Ilam and a hospital in the province of Kermanshah, both located in western Iran, were struck. Iranian officials said that at least 45 of the people killed in the last 24 hours were women and children.
In total, more than 260 people have been killed in Iran since the start of the Israeli attack, with more than 1,400 others wounded.
While Iran is yet to close its airspace, its retaliatory strikes have inflicted some real losses on Israel. The situation could of course shift at any moment.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence
NOW hosted at southfront.press
Previously, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.org.
The .org domain name had been blocked by the US (NATO) (https://southfront.press/southfront-org-blocked-by-u-s-controlled-global-internet-supervisor/) globally, outlawed and without any explanation
Back before that, from 2013 to 2015, SouthFront: Analysis and Intelligence was at southfront.com
