The skies over Iran erupted in chaos on Saturday as missiles descended following a stern warning from President Trump, who declared that the nation might face “total obliteration and inevitable demise.”
Joint military operations by the United States and Israel honed in on strategic sites within Tehran, focusing on military infrastructure, key leadership figures, and the country’s nuclear ambitions. Among these targets was the expansive Mehrabad International Airport.
Social media buzzed with dramatic footage showing a significant explosion and thick black smoke rising from the airport, known to be the headquarters of Iran’s national airline.
An Israeli offensive reportedly annihilated 16 Iranian military aircraft, which were allegedly utilized by the Quds Force, the prestigious division of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), to supply Hezbollah in Lebanon with weaponry, according to the IDF.
The airport had been described by the IDF as a “central hub for equipping and financing” Iran’s regional allies. Additionally, multiple Iranian fighter jets were targeted in these strikes.
President Trump assured the public on Saturday morning that “Iran will be dealt a severe blow,” adding that the US was actively identifying new military targets to compel Iran into compliance.
“Under serious consideration for complete destruction and certain death, because of Iran’s bad behavior, are areas and groups of people that were not considered for targeting up until this moment in time,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
It is not yet clear what new targets the President was alluding to.
Israel said it deployed 80 fighter jets to launch strikes on the IRGC’s Shahid Kharrazi barracks in Shahinshahr, and the Najafabad missile base in Isfahan province, according to Israeli media.
Imam Hossein University was also bombed by Israeli warplanes.
The institution is under US sanctions for its affiliation with the IRGC and its involvement in nuclear research.
Several ballistic missile storage facilities and an underground missile command unit were also targeted, the IDF said.
Iran retaliated with its own series of strikes on neighboring nations Jordan and Bahrain, as well as on a Malta-flagged oil tanker that reportedly ignored warnings by the IRGC Navy not to traverse the Strait of Hormuz.
The “Prima” exploded into a fireball after it was hit by a suicide drone, the IRGC reported, according to Iranian state media.
Iran has had control of the strait — a vital oil passageway — for eight days and does not permit vessels allied with the US or Israel to pass through.
