Israel claims it destroyed one-third of Iran's missile launchers, killed its top 4 intelligence officials

Smoke billows for the second day from the Shahran oil depot, northwest of Tehran, on June 16, 2025.

Israel's military on Monday said it had destroyed one third of Iran's surface-to-surface missile launchers, as strikes between the two arch foes raged for a fourth day.

Since the start of Israeli operations against Iran on Friday, "more than 120 missile launchers -- constituting one third of the Iranian regime's total launchers -- have been destroyed," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a statement.

Overnight, around 50 fighter jets and aircraft had "identified and struck missile storage sites, (and) surface-to-surface missile launchers that were ready for launch toward the state of Israel," the statement added.

In one instance, more than 20 surface-to-surface missiles were destroyed as they were being prepared for launch in central Iran, where missile-launching infrastructure is focused, the military said.

What did the IAF accomplish in Iran last night?
20+ surface-to-surface missiles were dismantled minutes before they were to be launched toward Israels home front.Approx. 100 military targets were struck in Isfahan, central Iran.Around 50 fighter jets and aircraft pic.twitter.com/8FLXjp6qI0 Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 16, 2025

Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) intelligence guided airstrikes that targeted and eliminated four senior Iranian intelligence officials who were reportedly gathered in a structure used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The officials killed in the operation include:

• Mohammad Kazemi, Head of the IRGC’s Intelligence Organization
• Mohammad Hassan Mohaqiq, Deputy Head of the IRGC Intelligence
• Mohsen Bakri, Head of Quds Force Intelligence
• Abu al-Fadl Nikouei, Deputy Head of Quds Force Intelligence

The IDF eliminated 4 senior Iranian intelligence officials, including the Head of the IRGCs Intelligence Organization.Yesterday, IAF fighter jets guided by precise IDF intelligence struck a structure in Tehran housing top Iranian intelligence officials.The 4 officials are: pic.twitter.com/nygndSwY6h Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 16, 2025

These individuals were said to play a central role in Iran’s strategic planning and coordination of terrorist activities targeting Israel, its Western allies, and other countries in the region.

During a press conference, Defrin also said that Israel now had "total air superiority in the skies over Tehran".

The strikes on Iranian missile sites "helped reduce the number of missiles fired at Israel by half, limiting the barrage to fewer than 50 missiles", an Israeli military official said on condition of anonymity.

Iran unleashed a missile barrage on Israeli cities Monday after Israeli strikes deep inside the Islamic republic, leaving streets in ruins and the death toll in Israel climbing by 11 amid a spiralling air war.

After decades of enmity and a prolonged shadow war, Israel on Friday launched aerial attacks on Iran in a surprise campaign it said was aimed at stopping its arch-foe from acquiring atomic weapons -- an allegation Tehran denies.

So far, Israel's strikes have killed at least 224 people inside Iran, including top military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians, according to authorities in the Islamic republic.

In retaliation, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Monday it had "successfully" struck Israel with a salvo of missiles and warned of "effective, targeted and more devastating operations" to come.

The latest Iranian onslaught left a trail of destruction across Israeli cities -- including Tel Aviv, Bnei Brak, Petah Tikva and Haifa -- with shattered homes, smouldering wreckage and stunned residents picking through the debris.