Israel opens airspace over Iran: Defense Forces reveal key strike target
Israel strikes Iran's strategic air defense system (photo: Getty Images)
Israeli forces carried out a major strike on Iran's strategic air defense sites, significantly limiting Tehran's capabilities, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
Read also: Israel doesn’t rule out Iran's supreme leader was killed
Details of operation
Military sources said that the operation, based on precise intelligence, targeted key aerial defense systems of the Iranian regime.
Specifically, in the Kermanshah area in western Iran, an advanced SA-65 aerial defense system was destroyed.
The IDF emphasized the strike's strategic significance.
"These strikes were conducted in order to establish and enhance the Israeli Air Force's freedom of operation over Iranian aerial territory," the statement said.
Air defense systems of the Iranian regime (photo: idfanc.activetrail.biz)
#Israel strikes #Iran's strategic air #defense system on February 28 pic.twitter.com/gFgAPy9jUN
— RBC-Ukraine (@NewsUkraineRBC) February 28, 2026
Impact on IRGC
Israel's military command says Operation Rising Lion delivered a serious blow to the defensive capabilities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
The primary goal of Israel's actions is to weaken the enemy military capacity and prevent threats toward the home front of the State of Israel.
Could tensions spiral into full-blown war?
Israel has carried out its largest strike on Iran in years, targeting nuclear and military facilities.
Among the potential targets of the joint Israel-US operation were Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, President Masoud Pezeshkian, and other top Iranian officials.
Later, Israeli sources suggested the possibility that Iran's leader could have been eliminated.
At the same time, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is ready for de-escalation and talks with the US once the attacks stop. He also stressed that, in Iran's view, Washington will have to pay for starting the conflict.
