Intense nighttime airstrikes hit western Tehran and Karaj, with citizen reports indicating the heavy destruction of a Basij base near Azadi Square and up to ten severe explosions near Mehrabad Airport and Fardis.
At around 4:10 to 4:12 AM on Tuesday, a series of "terrifying explosions" shook western Tehran. According to Vahid Online وحید آنلاین, a prominent citizen journalism aggregator that frequently shares unfiltered, ground-level perspectives critical of the Iranian establishment, residents in the Ekbatan, Tehransar, and Kouhak districts reported hearing three to five very severe blasts. The strikes sent a visible column of smoke rising near Mehrabad Airport, with one Kouhak resident noting the heavy blasts "went right to the edge of breaking windows".
Following the morning strikes, Vahid Online shared crowdsourced images pinpointing a strike zone south of Azadi Square, at the intersection of Dastgheib Street and Saeedi Highway (coordinates 35.6871, 51.34171). While initial reports suggested the target was the Municipality Informatics Building (Urban Smart Technologies Center), subsequent visual analysis submitted by citizens indicated that at least one side of the technology center remained intact. Instead, an adjacent building—identified in user messages as a Basij base—was "heavily destroyed" and was likely the primary target.
The bombardments continued into the night and the following morning. اخبارفوری خبرفوری جنگ امریکا فوری, a rapid-alert breaking news channel focused on military and war developments, reported the sound of another explosion in parts of Tehran at approximately 22:37 on Tuesday. By early Wednesday morning, the strikes appeared to expand westward. According to Vahid Online, videos captured action over Mehrabad Airport at 3:53 AM, while citizens in Karaj—specifically the Fardis area—reported hearing approximately 10 heavy explosions between 3:47 and 3:50 AM.
The narrative relies heavily on crowdsourced, user-generated content and eyewitness testimonies aggregated by Telegram channels. Initial conflicting reports regarding the exact building targeted in Tehran highlight the fog of war, though this was actively self-corrected by the citizen journalist source using follow-up imagery.