Iran’s Mohajer drone
An Israeli aerial attack reportedly destroyed hundreds of drones at an airbase belonging to the Revolutionary Guard in the Iranian province of Kermanshah last month.
According to a report published by Haaretz on Tuesday, six Israeli drones struck the base in Mahidasht region near the western city of Kermanshah in a covert operation that may be the motive for Tehran's Sunday missile attack on Erbil, along with the recent airstrike near Damascus that killed two IRGC officers.
The report said the mid-February attack caused major damage to the Islamic Republic’s drone fleet, with some estimates saying that hundreds were destroyed.
Until recently, neither country had gone public about years of covert drone war between the two archrivals.
Lebanese television station Al Mayadeen, with links to both Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic, reported the Israeli attack for the first time on Sunday, saying the bombing of the Kermanshah drone site prompted the retaliatory attack in Erbil, which claimed it targeted a secret Israeli intelligence base.
Press TV quoted the secretary general of pro-Iran Harakat Hezbollah al-Nujaba as saying that the Kurdistan region authorities “provide Mossad agents with refuge” which makes it allowable for any party to target the “Zionist spies.”
Some Iran-backed sources said the Erbil attack had several casualties but according to official reports no one was killed but the missiles damaged some residential buildings.