Iran: Launches a missile carrying a 1-ton warhead to strike Israel

Iran Launches Missile Strike on Israel Carrying 1 Ton Warhead

On the 5th, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that during the 19th round of their “Real Commitment 4” operation earlier that day, they used weapons including the heavily armed “Khoramshahr-4” missile with a 1-ton warhead to attack central Tel Aviv, Ben-Gurion Airport, and the Israeli Air Force base located at the airport.

The announcement also stated that in the previous 18th round of strikes, Iran effectively targeted 20 U.S. military sites in Bahrain, the UAE, and Kuwait.

U.S. Military Denies Fighter Jet Shot Down in Iran

On the 5th, U.S. Central Command said that reports on social media claiming that an American F-15E fighter jet was shot down in Iran on the 4th are “baseless.”

Earlier that day, Iran’s Mehr News Agency reported that Iran’s air defense forces shot down a U.S. F-15 fighter jet in the Alborz Mountains.

U.S. Media: U.S. Preparing for at Least 100 Days of Continued Strikes on Iran

According to U.S. media reports on the 4th, U.S. Central Command is requesting additional intelligence personnel from the Pentagon to support military operations against Iran that could last at least 100 days.

A document obtained by Politico shows that the U.S. Central Command, responsible for Middle East military operations, has requested more intelligence personnel to be dispatched to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support this military campaign for at least 100 days, possibly extending into September.

The report states that this is the first time since the large-scale military operation launched by the U.S. and Israel against Iran on February 28 that Central Command has requested additional intelligence support, indicating that the conflict could last much longer than President Trump initially expected, highlighting the Trump administration’s failure to fully anticipate the chain reactions of the war.

Trump stated on the 2nd that the U.S. government expects the operation to last “4 to 5 weeks,” but “we have the capacity to sustain it longer.”

Politico reports that Trump and his aides have yet to provide a convincing reason for why the strike was launched at this time. U.S. Secretary of State Blinken claimed on the 2nd that the U.S. launched the military strike against Iran because Israel was about to attack Iran, and the U.S. would become a target for Iranian retaliation, leading to a decision to “preemptively strike.” However, Trump the next day said he ordered the attack based on the judgment that “Iran was about to initiate an attack.” According to U.S. media reports, U.S. intelligence agencies believe Iran was not preparing to launch a “preemptive strike” against U.S. interests.

According to U.S. figures, six U.S. soldiers have died in the operation. The Atlantic Monthly on the 4th cited a U.S. congressional official stating that, based on initial Pentagon estimates, the U.S. is spending nearly $1 billion daily on this military operation.

(Source: Securities Times)