Israel has launched a new phase of Operation Rising Lion. The campaign is designed to destroy Iran’s nuclear capability and long-range weapons capacity, but now it has expanded its scope to striking at Iran’s energy infrastructure. The strikes come after a warning from Israeli officials that they would do so if Iran attacked Israeli urban areas with its ballistic missiles. Following the missile attacks on Israel, Netanyahu also warned that Israeli warplanes are now able to directly access Tehran and that regime targets are on the Israeli Air Force’s (IAF) list.
A senior Israel Defense Forces (IDF) official told The War Zone that the Israeli Air Force has attacked the South Pars gas field in Iran’s southern Bushehr region. That confirms claims by the official Iranian Fars news outlet that Phase 14 of that facility was hit with an Israeli drone.
“As a result of this attack, parts of this phase have caught fire, and fire engines are currently extinguishing the fire,” Fars reported. “The fire caused by the Zionist regime’s attack on the South Pars Phase 14 refinery and Fajr Jam was contained with a quick response.” Video posted on social media showed that the plant was engulfed in flames.
In addition, there are unconfirmed reports that Israel also struck the Fajr Jam Natural Gas Refinery, and the Kangan LNG Port on the coast of the Persian Gulf, all in the Bushehr Province of Southern Iran.
There is no indication at this point that Israel targeted the Bushehr nuclear reactor, which supplies Iran’s power grid. With the proper equipment, that plant could also yield plutonium for a bomb. As we previously reported, Israel has attacked Iran’s uranium enrichment site in the Natanz area, but that doesn’t present nearly the level of danger that going after a live reactor would, The Jerusalem Post postulated.
“A strike on a live nuclear reactor could unleash radioactive leakage capable of endangering civilian populations hundreds of kilometers away, depending on the severity of the breach,” the publication explained.
Despite some rumors that the airstrikes may have led to a radiation leak, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Friday that radiation levels outside of the Natanz uranium enrichment site remained unchanged after the airstrikes.
The attack on Iran’s energy infrastructure came after Israeli officials warned they would do so if Iran continued to attack the Jewish state’s urban areas. So far, Iran has launched more than 200 missiles and 200 drones at Israel, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Those attacks, in retaliation for Operation Rising Lion, have damaged a number of buildings in Tel Aviv and elsewhere.
The IAF said it struck air defense targets in and around Tehran overnight to improve its freedom to operate in the skies over Iran.
“After an active day in which we struck hundreds of targets, including dozens of surface-to-air targets, we conducted a series of precise strikes of operational and national significance which improved our aerial superiority and our freedom of activity in Iran,” Commanding officer of the Israeli Air Force, Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, said at a situational assessment after the strikes. “For the first time since the beginning of the war, over 1,500 km from Israeli territory, the IAF struck defense arrays in the area of Tehran.”
IAF released a video of a strike on one of those surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems as well as an illustration showing how it opened up an air corridor through western Iran as a result of its suppression and destruction of enemy air defenses (SEAD/DEAD) operations. The strikes have already already destroyed “dozens of radars and surface-to-air missile launchers,” according to the IAF.
Israeli officials believe Iran has at least 2,000 long-range ballistic missiles it could use in future attacks, according to Fox News Chief Foreign Correspondent Trey Yingst.
“Israeli intelligence projected that Iran would have an arsenal of 8,000 ballistic missiles over the next two years,” Yingst said on X. “This was part of the reason a decision was made to launch the operation.”
As we noted in our previous coverage, Israel’s Mossad reportedly conducted a daring ground operation inside Iran at the start of Operation Rising Lion. Its operatives launched one-way attack drones and loitering anti-armor munitions at critical military targets — especially air defense ones. Among them was an air defense site near Tehran, striking surface-to-air missile launchers there, clearing the way for the larger strike.
Speaking of that operation, Iranian officials released what they claimed was a truck with containers in the back used to launch some of those drones.
The Iranian Interior Ministry said that the movement of pickups and roomy trucks without permits are no longer permitted to enter the country.
In the aftermath of Israeli strikes on Iran, the debris of what appears to be a one-way attack drone was reportedly found. You can see images of one of those discoveries below.
After the launch of Operation Rising Lion, Iran’s supreme leader wanted to strike back with an assault of 1,000 missiles. However, Iranian complacency before the attack and indecision after, reportedly, made that impossible to pull off.
The initial plan was to launch that barrage and “overwhelm its air defense and ensure maximum damage,” two members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) told The New York Times. “But Israel’s strikes on missile bases had made it impossible to move missiles quickly from storage and place them on launchpads, they added.”
Leaders in Tehran were anticipating an Israeli attack, but not before the conclusions of talks aimed at reigning in Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“Officials said that the night of Israel’s attack, senior military commanders did not shelter in safe houses and instead stayed in their own homes, a fateful decision,” according to the publication. “Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ aerospace unit, and his senior staff ignored a directive against congregating in one location. They held an emergency war meeting at a military base in Tehran and were killed when Israel struck the base.”
By Friday evening, “the government was just beginning to grasp the extent of damage from Israel’s military campaign that began in the early hours of the day and struck at least 15 locations across Iran, including in Isfahan, Tabriz, Ilam, Lorestan, Borujerd, Qom, Arak, Urmia, Ghasre Shirin, Kermanshah, Hamedan and Shiraz,” four Iranian officials told the publication.
“Israel had taken out much of Iran’s defense capability, destroying radars and air defenses; crippled its access to its arsenal of ballistic missiles; and wiped out senior figures in the military chain of command,” the Times explained. “In addition, the aboveground part of a major nuclear enrichment plant at Natanz was severely damaged.”
U.S. military assets have been used to help defend Israel during Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone barrage, a U.S. official and a senior IDF official confirmed to The War Zone.
“I can confirm that the U.S. is assisting in shooting down missiles targeting Israel,” the U.S. official told us. “U.S. Navy Aegis ships and THAAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense] units as well as some U.S. jets, were part of the anti-missile combat to try and intercept as many Iranian missiles and UAVs as possible,” the senior IDF official told us.
A U.S. official on Thursday told TWZ that the U.S. Navy’s Arleigh Burke class destroyer USS Thomas Hudner was heading east across the Mediterranean in the direction of Israel. Additional reports had said that another destroyer of this type was also being repositioned for a potential forward deployment to the region if necessary. Both are designed to provide air and missile defense.
The comments from the U.S. and IDF officials confirm earlier media reporting of how American assets and personnel are being used to help defend Israel against Iran.
Saturday morning, The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran has launched 200 ballistic missiles and 200 drones at Israel and that the “U.S. military is operating in the air, on land and at sea to shoot down Iranian missiles fired at Israel…”
“Before the retaliatory strikes even began, U.S. jet fighters, Navy destroyers and ground-based air-defense systems had positioned to help counter any attack,” the Journal added.
In addition, U.S. Army Patriot surface-to-air missile systems and THAAD missile defense systems helped shoot down incoming Iranian ballistic missiles as well, Fox News has reported.
“The Pentagon is still waiting for a battlefield assessment to determine how many projectiles the U.S. intercepted,” U.S. officials told the Journal. “A number of overnight impacts were reported around the Tel Aviv area, causing three deaths and property damage.”
This is not the first time the U.S. has used its assets and personnel to defend Israel against Iran.
During an Iranian attack on Israel in April 2024, U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles also helped swat down Iranian drones. Meanwhile, Arleigh Burke class destroyers are among the assets the U.S. military has used to defend Israel from previous Iranian attacks in the past year or so, as well as THAADs and Patriots. The U.S. Army’s first combat use of the THAAD system came last December, to interdict a medium-range ballistic missile fired at Israel by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen.
Amid the ongoing Israeli attacks, senior Iranian leaders appear to be fleeing the country, Netanyahu claimed.
“We have indications that senior leaders in Iran are packing their bags, they know what’s coming… We knew that had we not acted, Iran would’ve given nukes to its terror proxies,” he said.
While we cannot confirm that, flight trackers reported a bizarre instance of an Iranian Boeing 747 departed from Tehran today. This would appear to be a very risky move considering a major airpower is in the middle of an air campaign focused on sanitizing the airspace and air defenses. Exactly where this flight went is not clear, but this 747 in particular is well known for running weapons and doing other risky government work.
Update, 5:05 PM Eastern:
Iran has launched another wave of ballistic missile strikes on Israel, targeting the northern end of the country, particularly Haifa. The IDF said it was working to intercept them, but a substantial number of the missiles made it to the ground.
There are reports that an oil refinery in Haifa may have been hit, which is in line with Iranian threats to expand its target list to include Israel’s oil and natural gas infrastructure.
Israel has also carried out another wave of strikes in Iran, including around Tehran. Israeli forces were reportedly in the process of carrying out their missions while the Iranian missiles were inbound.
Israel has also conducted a new strike against Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, with military chief of staff Muhammad Al-Ghamari being the reported target.
Israeli media has reported that U.S. President Donald Trump has told his Israeli counterpart, Netanyahu, that he would consider using American forces to strike Iran’s Fordo nuclear enrichment facility if that was what was necessary to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons. Fordo is a deeply buried target that would be very challenging for Israel to reach with the conventional weapons it is known to possess.
Update: 6:30pm Eastern
Israel states that F-35Is were present over Tehran for two hours today and struck multiple targets. They are clearly working their way to achieving air dominance over the entire country, including target sites in Iran’s east, which could drastically expand tactical possibilities. As we noted when this started, once the IAF controls the skies, it will be very hard for Iran to regain air sovereignty of any kind. As such, reconstituting any of their nuclear or missile program will be nearly impossible as Israel will destroy them with ease from the air. In other words, this access is unlikely to be temporary and this is by design.
According to the WSJ, Israel says Iran’s top leadership, including Khamenei, are not off limits.
Israelis are hiding in tunnels as the incoming ballistic missile threat looms large.
Update: 8:50pm Eastern
Another barrage of ballistic missiles has impacted Israel. We appear to be seeing faster, larger, more cable TBMs mixed in with these barrages. These are harder to intercept, especially during a saturation attack.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com