- An Iranian aircraft was destroyed on the ground at Bushehr airport during military strikes
- US-Israeli forces targeted Iranian military sites including Mehrabad airport in Tehran
- The strikes involved ballistic missiles and air strikes using F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters
An Iranian aircraft was destroyed on the ground at Bushehr aiport during a series of military strikes. The incident was reported in Iranian media on Tuesday.
The strikes form part of a joint US-Israeli operation against Iranian military and strategic sites, following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and targeted hits on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps command centres, missile facilities, air defences and leadership compounds.
According to Mehr News Agency, the Mehrabad airport in Tehran was targeted by strikes. The agency published photos showing a cloud of grey smoke rising into the sky behind what appeared to be a runway. "The American-Zionist terrorists attacked the area around the Mehrabad airport" in the capital's west, it said.
Beginning Saturday afternoon (India time), US-Israel forces launched ballistic missiles, including the Tomahawk from warships in the Persian Gulf, and conducted air strikes using its fleet of fifth-gen stealth fighters, i.e., the F-22 and F-35.
Iran responded with a barrage of missiles and suicide UAV attacks - with its low-cost Shahed drones taking centre-stage -that not only hit targets in Israel and American military bases, but also civilian buildings in neighbouring Gulf nations.
On Day 1 Iran leader Khamenei was killed in a strike on his compound in central Tehran.
The strike, 'months in the planning', according to media reports, involved the hacking of traffic cameras to track Khamenei's convoy and confirm his location on the day of the attack. Trump declared "I got him before he got me" when told of his death.
Iran's response was to escalate missile and drone attacks at US targets, including embassies and military bases, while also amping up rhetoric against the US over future strikes. Missiles continued to hit targets across Gulf countries late Tuesday.
The exchange has threatened to drag other West Asian countries into a regional war that could have catastrophic consequences for the world's energy supply, particularly after Iran shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which an average of 20 million barrels of crude oil is shipped daily.
