(Feeling better today, thanks. I’m cautiously optimistic that I can keep these crackers down.)
It looks like a big increase in operational strike tempo against Iranian targets has kicked off today, well in advanced of Trump’s 8 PM EST deadline. A whole lot of infrastructure targets are being hit across Iran, along with heavy strikes against Tehran…
…and Kharg Island. “The targets that the US hit on Kharg Island included bunkers, radar station, ammunition storage. Landing docks were not intentionally targeted. Only would have been struck if Iranians fired something from next to them.”
A list of infrastructure strikes:
- “Since early in the morning on Tuesday, Israel and the United States have been extensively targeting railway and vehicle bridges across Iran, with bridges having been targeted in Tehran, Isfahan, Qom, and other regions of Western Iran, with Israeli officials claiming that the strikes were to prevent the movement of military equipment by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG). Roughly ten hours remain of President Trump’s deadline of 8:00PM EST given to Iran.”
- “Israeli army announces that it has attacked eight bridges in Iran today.”
- “The Tabriz-Mianeh railway line was bombed.”
- “Bridge destroyed by an airstrike near Iran Zanjan – multiple bridges, and even highways, appear to have been targeted across Iran.”
- “A bridge on the Kharrazi highway in the Garmdarreh area of Alborz province in western Tehran was hit by an airstrike.”
- “Missile guidance systems research center at Sharif University in Tehran targeted, and airstrikes targeted at least 3 airports in Tehran.
- “Iran has gathered civilians near bridges and power plants, effectively placing them around critical infrastructure.” Because of course they have.
More news:
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) escalated the stakes against Iran’s leadership yet again, going after the men in charge of Tehran’s oppression and terror organizations.
One of this weekend’s big names is Maj. Gen. Majid Khademi, now confirmed dead, who until the moment of his vaporization served as the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) intelligence organization. Khademi’s death was confirmed Monday by an IRGC statement carried by the Iranian state Fars news service.
The same IRGC statement said that funeral and burial arrangements would be announced later, hopefully with just enough of a heads-up for U.S.-Israel forces to conduct a strike on it.
I don’t mean to sound so bloodthirsty on a gorgeous Monday morning, but you have to understand who Khademi was, what he did, and what his death might mean for the regime.
As head of the IRGC Intelligence Protection Organization (IPO), Khademi reported directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran — whoever that might be these days — because he was in charge of both IRGC internal investigations and internal repression.
So think of the IPO as a combination of a big city police department’s internal affairs division and Hitler’s Gestapo. The 45,000 Iranians reportedly murdered following last year’s big uprisings? Yeah, their blood is on Khademi’s hands. Be glad he’s dead.
But there’s more — some speculative, some confirmed.
An interesting tidbit: a pair of unverified rumors that lean into today’s news. The first — and quite persistent — is that Quds Force chief Esmail Qaani is an Israeli asset. Quds Force specializes in unconventional warfare, international terrorism, and military intelligence. Qaani became head following President Donald Trump’s assassination of former chief Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
The second rumor is that Khademi was heading up an internal investigation of Qaani before getting blown up. If there’s any substance to these rumors, you can imagine the chaos right now inside Quds and the IRGC as a whole.
But again, these are merely rumors.
Not a rumor is OSINTechnical’s report on Monday that another recent strike also killed Yazdan Mir, “leader of the Quds Force’s Unit 840, a covert operational group responsible for conducting clandestine activities outside of Iran.”
As of this writing, there’s word that some sort of tentative ceasefire deal may be in the offing, assuming Iran agrees to open the Strait of Hormuz. Could be real, could be positioning.
“Big Week” was a combined allied air offensive against Germany in 1944. The results were mixed.
Update: Sort of looks like a ceasefire may be going into affect. Though limiting safe passage to “only with coordination” may be a deal-killer.
Tags: Alborz, Baluchestan, Benjamin Netanyahu, Esmail Qaani, Foreign Policy, IDF, infrastructure, Iran, Iranian air force, Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Isfahan, Israel, Jihad, Kharg Island, Majid Khademi, Military, Mirage III, Operation Epic Fury, Pakistan, Qom, Quds Force, Saudi Arabia, Sharif University, Stephen Green, Strait of Hormuz, Tehran, Yazdan Mir
“As of this writing, there’s word that some sort of tentative ceasefire deal may be in the offing,..”
This is useful. The Iranian regime suffers from a legitimacy crisis. After numerous targeted strikes against IRGC leadership, who is now in charge–the hard line faction or the “moderates”?
Those who want an end to the war will embrace a ceasefire; those who reject it will not hesitate to break the truce. The self-identified troublemakers will then be on the sharp end of a bombing run; those who keep the truce will be spared. The winnowing will continue until the wheat is separated from the chaff.
Old enough to remember when they invaded our sovereign embassy and committed an act of war.
Time to win.
2 nukes ended WWII, I’m ok with a similar conclusion.
There is a Lundlum book, spoiler alert, where a group makes the ME radioactive so humanity will have to find an alternative. Not his best.
“Israeli army announces that it has attacked eight bridges in Iran today.”
I’m thinking that’s the Israeli Air Force. If their Army has got involved, that would be a story.
That was quick. The Iranians have closed the Straits again, claiming the Israelis violated the cease fire in Lebanon. The Iranians were charging $ 2 million in Bitcoin for each passage, but only two vessels made it through before today’s reclosure.