US and Israeli forces continued extensive military strikes across Iran into their 13th day, targeting Basij checkpoints in Tehran, drone launch sites, and military transport fleets. The IDF explicitly stated the operations are intended to cripple the Islamic Republic's infrastructure and nuclear layers.
Entering the 12th and 13th days of a sustained military campaign, United States and Israeli forces launched widespread strikes targeting infrastructure and military assets across multiple Iranian cities. The exile opposition network Iran International reported that early Thursday morning attacks struck areas including Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Shiraz, and Bandar Abbas. CENTCOM also released footage confirming strikes on the Islamic Republic's fleet of large military transport aircraft, according to the network. This extensive regional conflict coincides with severe volatility in neighboring Afghanistan's foreign exchange markets throughout March 2026, where the Afghani experienced sharp fluctuations against the US dollar amid high-liquidity speculative trading.
The Israeli military confirmed specific, targeted operations against the regime's security apparatus within the capital. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that the Israeli Air Force targeted checkpoints and forces of the Basij unit across several points in Tehran, as noted by Iran International. The IDF described these forces as elements responsible for "terrorist" operations in recent years, stating that the strikes are part of "deepening the blow to the nuclear layers and main infrastructure" of the Iranian government.
The casualties and scale of the strikes were corroborated by sources within Iran. The popular citizen journalist aggregator Vahid Online highlighted reports from the IRGC-affiliated Fars News Agency, which confirmed that drones targeted government checkpoints in Tehran on Wednesday night, resulting in the deaths of 10 officers.
In addition to ground forces, the IDF reported severe degradation of Iran's unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and missile capabilities. Iran International relayed IDF statements confirming that over 250 drones, launchers, and dozens of launch sites have been targeted in ongoing operations. In one specific rapid-response operation, Israeli forces identified and eliminated a drone unit preparing an immediate launch toward Israel, killing several commanders and operators responsible for previous barrages. The IDF affirmed its operations in western Iran will continue unabated to destroy infrastructure tied to the regime's ballistic missile and drone systems.
The source material presents a strong convergence of facts regarding the occurrence and targets of the strikes, despite drawing from opposing political alignments (exile opposition media vs. state-affiliated media). The translation faithfully preserves the opposition framing used by Iran International, which refers to the Iranian government as the 'Islamic Republic regime' rather than simply 'Iran'. Additionally, the word 'terrorist' regarding Iranian security forces is kept in quotation marks as it appeared in the original Persian text.