Operation Rising Lion Israeli Air Force destroys one third of Iran’s missile launchers, kills IRGC intel chiefs

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) hit dozens of targets across Iran on Sunday while maintaining its air superiority in Iranian skies.

According to a statement from IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin, the Israel Defense Forces have now destroyed more than 120 missile launchers, around one-third of the regime’s total number of launchers.

“We continue to operate according to a structured, thorough, professional, and evolving plan. Over the past 24 hours, we completed an aerial route to Tehran and conducted an aerial breaching battle,” IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir stated.

“IAF pilots are flying at great risk to their lives, hundreds of kilometers away from Israel, striking hundreds of different targets with precision. Alongside that, we are locating and destroying missile launchers that are firing toward our territory.”

Last night, the IAF struck approximately100 military targets in central Iran’s Isfahan region alone, including 20 missiles that were about to be launched at Israel.

כ-100 מטרות צבאיות נתקפו:
צה"ל השמיד שליש ממשגרי הטילים של המשטר האיראני

לכל הפרטים:https://t.co/Q0YzBRlQVU pic.twitter.com/Ze8LqGpgyZ

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) June 16, 2025

“Approximately 50 fighter jets and aircraft identified and struck missile storage sites, surface-to-surface missile launchers that were ready for launch toward the State of Israel, and command centers where launch squads were preparing to carry out launches,” Defrin said.

“In one of the strikes, after a missile launch cell was identified in real-time attempting to launch surface-to-surface missiles toward the State of Israel, the IAF eliminated the launch cell and destroyed the missiles.”

The IDF issued several updates regarding its operations in the last 24 hours, further noting that it struck “infrastructure belonging to the Quds Force, the IRGC, and the Iranian military in Tehran,” as well as “numerous weapons production sites across Iran.”

⭕️ The IDF precisely struck command centers belonging to the Quds Force of the IRGC and the Iranian military.

In these command centers, Quds operatives advanced terrorist attacks against the State of Israel using the proxies of the Iranian Regime in the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/wSVZB0QnyJ

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 16, 2025

Later, IAF jets also struck “command centers belonging to the Quds Force of the IRGC and the Iranian military,” where it said Quds operatives have coordinated efforts to launch terror attacks against Israel through Iran’s network of proxies across the Middle East.

The air superiority established in recent days currently allows the IAF to maintain a continuous presence in Iranian skies, and to monitor and strike any potential threat developing in real-time.

⭕️WATCH: The IAF identified and eliminated surface-to-air missile launch troops seconds before they reached a launcher south of Tehran. The troops were eliminated and the launcher was dismantled.

The IAF continues to operate to achieve air superiority across Iran. pic.twitter.com/h9eIK8SWCO

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 16, 2025

In addition to striking Iranian military targets, the IDF continues to hunt Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) senior commanders after having already decapitated the Iranian military leadership during the opening strike of the war.

On Monday, the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency reported that Israel is using covert mobile phone tracking technology to follow and assassinate military commanders and nuclear scientists.

⭕️Iranian Regime weapon production sites haven been been struck and degraded.

Earlier today, the IDF completed a wide-scale wave of strikes on numerous weapon production sites belonging to the Quds Force, the IRGC and the Iranian military, in Tehran. pic.twitter.com/ioPBZAUVQ9

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 15, 2025

According to the report, turning off mobile phones may still reveal users’ locations. Earlier, a parliament member urged military and government officials to stop using mobile phones altogether to reduce the risk of targeted strikes.

Iranian media confirmed that two IRGC commanders were killed in a strike on the Zanjan province in northwestern Iran on Sunday night. Other media reported that six members of the IRGC’s missile array establishment also were eliminated on Sunday.

🎯 WATCH where we struck in both Iran and Yemen:

This is what the scale of our operational activity to eliminate Iran’s influence across the region looks like: pic.twitter.com/5d9y1Ekwnh

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 15, 2025

Israel officially confirmed the elimination of the IRGC’s intelligence chief and his deputy, as well as the IRGC Quds Force intelligence chief and his deputy.

“The head of the IRGC intelligence organization, Mohammad Kazemi, served in his position since 2022 and was responsible for eliminating, spying on, and harming opponents of the Iranian regime in Iran… [and] was responsible for gathering intelligence for terrorist operations and monitoring Iranian citizens in order to suppress the Iranian people and protect the Iranian regime,” the military said.

“The heads of the Quds Force's intelligence department, Mohsen Baqeri and his deputy, Abu al-Fazl Nikaoui, were primarily responsible for providing operational and intelligence assistance to members of the resistance axis, including Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis, and militias in Iraq.”

According to Iranian officials, the Israeli strikes in Iran have resulted in the deaths of 224 individuals and the wounding of 1,277.