Tehran, March 21 — Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it carried out the 70th wave of its retaliatory Operation True Promise 4 on Saturday, striking more than 55 sites it described as occupied by US and Israeli forces across the region. The IRGC said the opening moments of the phase were marked by “loud explosions, bursts of fire, and columns of smoke” across the targeted areas.
The statement named five US military sites as targets: al-Kharj in Saudi Arabia, al-Dhafra in the United Arab Emirates, Ali al-Salem in Kuwait, Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan, and the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. The Corps said strikes used Qiam and Emad missile systems alongside attack drones and described the operation as part of a broader “gradual attrition” strategy.
The IRGC added that its Aerospace Force focused on strategic locations in the port of Haifa and the Tel Aviv area, citing strikes on Hadera, Kiryat Ono, Savion, and Ben Ami. It said Khorramshahr-4 and multi-warhead Qadr missile systems were deployed, producing impacts “beyond the enemy’s estimates” and worsening conditions in those territories. The IRGC warned it would continue to target what it called the origin of any aggression against Iran with strikes exceeding previous actions.
Separately, Israel’s military said it struck a senior Basij leadership site in Tehran and killed Esmail Ahmadi, whom the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) described as head of the Basij Intelligence Division and a central figure in planning Basij operations. The IDF also claimed the killing of Mehdi Rastami Sh’mastan, identified by the IDF as a key commander in Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and involved in directing attacks against Israeli and Jewish civilians abroad. The IDF characterized Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence as a principal arm of the regime’s security apparatus.
These accounts reflect competing announcements by the IRGC and the IDF. The original report was sourced from a syndicated feed and published as received; the Tribune notes it assumes no responsibility for independent verification of the material.
