Israel destroys 16 Iranian Military Aircraft in overnight strike on Tehran

By Kazeem Ugbodaga

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it destroyed 16 Iranian military aircraft in overnight airstrikes on Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport, intensifying Israel’s ongoing confrontation with Iran and its regional allies.

According to the Israeli military, the targeted aircraft belonged to the Quds Force, the elite external operations wing of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Israel accuses of using the planes to transport weapons to the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

In a statement released on Saturday, the IDF said the operation was aimed at crippling what it described as a key logistical hub used by Iran to arm and finance its allied groups across the Middle East.

The Israeli military said the aircraft were “precisely dismantled” during the operation, adding that the planes were allegedly involved in transferring weapons and military equipment to Hezbollah as part of Tehran’s broader strategy to strengthen its regional proxy network.

Israel also disclosed that several Iranian fighter jets at the airport were targeted during the operation after being identified as potential threats to Israeli aircraft operating over Iranian territory.

Videos verified by CNN showed flames and heavy smoke rising from sections of Mehrabad Airport following the strikes, while residents in Tehran reported hearing loud explosions during what they described as a night of intense bombardment.

The latest strikes mark a further escalation in the rapidly expanding confrontation between Israel and Iran, which has drawn increasing international concern over the possibility of a wider regional war.

Israel has repeatedly accused Iran of supplying advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon, a claim Tehran denies. Hezbollah, however, is widely regarded as one of Iran’s closest regional allies and a key component of its security strategy in the Middle East.

Analysts say attacks on Iranian infrastructure linked to the Quds Force are intended to disrupt the logistics networks used to supply allied militias operating across the region.

The strike on Mehrabad Airport is among the most significant Israeli operations reported inside Iran in recent days, underscoring the growing intensity of the military exchanges between the two long-standing rivals.