IDF illustration of military targets the Israeli military struck in Isfahan, June 17, 2025. (credit: IDF Spokesperson's Unit) By JERUSALEM POST STAFF JUNE 17, 2025 21:57 See more

The Israeli military spoke of air superiority, but warned against underestimating the enemy.

JERUSALEM, Israel (TNND) — The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) on Tuesday announced it had killed a top Iranian war leader. The IDF wrote via X it killed Chief of Staff Ali Shadmani, whom it claimed worked as “Khamenei’s closest military advisor.” Shadmani died in an Israeli Air Force strike in Theran, the military group wrote.

Air Force Commander, Major General Tomer Bar, discloses that the Air Force has destroyed more than 70 Iranian air defense missile batteries.

The Israeli military said Monday that it can now fly over the country's capital, Tehran, without facing major resistance after crippling Iran’s air defenses in recent strikes, enabling Israel to hit an expanding range of targets with relative ease.

The Israel Defense Forces has not acknowledged losing any aircraft in the opening strikes of its Operation Rising Lion, which involved more than 200 aircraft that dropped a significant number of munitions, setting back Tehran’s nuclear program and killing several high-ranking military officials and atomic scientists.

The Air Force attacked several surface-to-air missile launch sites and radars located in western Iran this morning.

Israel and Iran launched a new round of attacks as the conflict between the two heavily armed rivals enters its fifth day.