Widespread bombardments and drone strikes have reportedly targeted IRGC bases, airfields, and security infrastructure across major Iranian cities. In response, Iranian authorities have flooded urban centers with heavily armed checkpoints and anti-riot units.
Beginning late Wednesday and continuing through Friday morning, widespread and intense military strikes have hit numerous cities across Iran. According to Iran International, a major anti-regime opposition network, multiple regions including Tabriz were subjected to a barrage of heavy US and Israeli attacks. The coordinated assault has heavily targeted Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) bases, naval installations, industrial sites, and local police stations.
Vahid Online, a prominent opposition-leaning citizen journalism aggregator, published hundreds of frantic eyewitness accounts detailing sustained bombardments. Residents across western and eastern Tehran, Karaj, and Eslamshahr reported earth-shattering explosions that felt like high-magnitude earthquakes. In one barrage alone, locals in Malard and Fardis reported nearly 30 consecutive missile strikes accompanied by the continuous roar of fighter jets. Some citizens observing the sheer scale of the blasts speculated that bunker-buster munitions or B-1 and B-2 bombers were actively striking the capital.The strikes appear to have systematically overwhelmed local air defenses. Iran International reported that anti-aircraft systems in Tehran and Shiraz were either firing aimlessly into the sky or entirely disabled while drone swarms operated with impunity. Key targets heavily damaged in the strikes include naval installations and the airport in Bandar Abbas, an IRGC ammunition depot in Sarvestan, and drone bases in the south. Furthermore, strikes have directly hit domestic security checkpoints; Iran International relayed reports from IRGC-affiliated Fars News confirming that at least 10 security and Basij personnel were killed by drone attacks on checkpoints in Tehran.
Amidst the military offensive from above, the Iranian government has drastically escalated its domestic security posture. Internal suppression forces and anti-riot units have been widely deployed to control the population. According to reports from Iran International, heavily armed checkpoints have choked streets in Tehran, Mashhad, Karaj, and other affected cities. In parts of the capital, armed forces on overpasses are aiming weapons directly at civilians, while local schools and stadiums have been commandeered as staging grounds for Basij and special units to maintain a grip on the chaotic urban centers.
The sources present an explicitly anti-regime viewpoint, relying heavily on crowdsourced eyewitness accounts. Terms like suppression forces and the explicit naming of the US and Israel as the attackers reflect the editorial framing of the source networks and have been translated faithfully without sanitization or modification. The provided background context regarding Afghan currency volatility was omitted from the digest as it lacked any relevant connection to the massive military strikes occurring inside Iran.