Iran reports retaliatory strikes and interceptions
Tehran claims drones downed and attacks on U.S. and Israel
Iranian officials and state media described a series of defensive and retaliatory operations that they say neutralized infiltrations, intercepted hostile drones, and struck foreign military assets after what Tehran terms an unlawful attack that killed the country’s supreme leader.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said their forces foiled an alleged sabotage and espionage network, intercepted multiple surveillance drones near western and southern borders with domestically developed air‑defense systems, and shot down or targeted foreign aircraft. The IRGC claimed its air defenses destroyed a US F‑15E Strike Eagle and that naval drones struck the USS Abraham Lincoln, forcing the carrier group to withdraw; those claims have not been independently verified. Tehran also asserted it launched large barrages of missiles and drones at Israeli‑occupied areas and US sites in the region, with figures released by Iranian authorities citing thousands of drones and hundreds of missiles fired.
Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister said that they have no option but to put an end to the existence and presence of the U.S. in the Persian gulf.
Speaking at the Raisina Dialogues conference in Delhi, FM Saeed Khatibzadeh said that the U.S. has multiple military bases, equipment, and assets targeting Iran. “I think the priority right now for Iran is to exercise the ultimate resistance against the aggressor. We are under attack, under invasion by Americans and Israelis, and they are trying to impose maximum damage on Iran,” Khatibzadeh said.
The seven-day war has now seen Iran target Israel, the Gulf states, Cyprus, Turkey and Azerbaijan, and spread to the Indian Ocean where a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian naval ship.
In Iran, at least 1,230 people have been killed, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, including 175 schoolgirls and staff killed at the primary school in Minab on the first day of the war.
