60 Israeli Air Force jets launched a major wave of strikes targeting Iranian missile launchers in the heart of Iran, Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Tuesday.
The offensive forced Iranian forces to retreat eastward, he added.
“They withdrew from western Iran, but we are coming after them,” Defrin said, adding that missile activity is now centered around Isfahan.
The Islamic Republic is in its final throes, Iran’s exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi said, urging a nationwide uprising to hasten what he called its inevitable collapse.
“The Islamic Republic has reached its end and is in the process of collapsing,” Pahlavi said in a statement, adding “Khamenei, like a frightened rat, has gone into hiding underground and has lost control of the situation.”
Pahlavi called for protests across Iran—from Bandar Abbas to Tabriz—to dismantle what he described as a disintegrating apparatus of repression.
He appealed directly to Iran’s armed forces and civil servants not to defend a “decaying regime,” urging them to “play a historic role” in a transition toward democratic rule.
Addressing fears of post-Islamic Republic instability, he said, “Iran will not descend into civil war or instability. We have a plan for Iran’s future and its flourishing.”
The United States is deploying additional fighter aircraft to the Middle East as the Iran-Israel war escalates, three US officials told Reuters.
The buildup includes F-22, F-16, and F-35 jets, one official said.
