Israeli Army Reveals Combat Details, Claims to Have Destroyed "60%" of Iran's Missile Launch Systems

Xinhua News Agency, Jerusalem, April 17 (Reporter Pang Xinyi, Feng Guorui) - Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Efi Defrin released a video statement on the evening of the 17th, revealing details of military operations against Iran. The statement said that the Israeli military systematically struck Iranian targets in its military operations against Iran, destroying 60% of its ballistic missile launch systems.

In the video, Defrin stated that the Israeli military targeted the building of the Iranian Supreme Leader's office, the Iranian Defense Council building, and the location of high-level meetings of the Iranian intelligence department in the initial attack, resulting in the deaths of "40" senior Iranian officials, including the late Supreme Leader Khamenei, in the first round of strikes. Meanwhile, 200 Israeli fighter jets launched attacks on 500 Iranian targets. The Israeli military also struck Iran's strategic defense systems in the first round of attacks and established "air superiority" over Iran, seizing "air dominance" over Tehran within the first 24 hours.

Defrin stated that the Israeli military has currently destroyed 60% of Iran's ballistic missile launch systems and other weapon storage facilities. The Israeli intelligence department has also "located" "hundreds" of Iranian factories responsible for weapon production, including many factories and facilities involved in various stages of ballistic missile production, and has launched strikes against them. The damage caused to Iran's industrial system from these attacks amounts to "hundreds of billions of dollars."

According to operational diagrams released by the Israeli military, the Iranian defense systems, ballistic missile systems, and command and control targets struck by the Israeli military are mostly located in western Iran.

Defrin indicated that in subsequent strikes, the Israeli military also targeted the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the militia "Mobilization of the Poor Organization," the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence, and internal security forces, destroying 8 "key R&D centers" of Iran's nuclear program, impairing its uranium enrichment capabilities, and striking targets related to Iran's "space and artificial intelligence programs."

Defrin also revealed that the U.S. and Israeli militaries have conducted "extensive and unprecedented cooperation" in military operations against Iran, with the Chief of Staff of the Israeli military having secretly visited Washington before the operation, and the two militaries forming a "joint strike team."

Defrin stated that it is still "too early" to summarize the operation. The Chief of Staff of the Israeli military has designated Iran as a "major combat readiness area," and the Israeli military is prepared for defense and offensive operations, having updated its operational plans to be ready to resume combat "if necessary." The Israeli military will "continue to conduct operations wherever needed."