Iran Launches Over 100 Drones After Israel's Deadly Strikes, IDF Says 'Working To Intercept'

Last Updated:June 13, 2025, 11:16 IST

Iran responded on Friday by launching over 100 drones towards Israel. The Israeli military confirmed ongoing efforts to intercept the UAVs.

People gather near damaged vehicles in the aftermath of Israeli strikes, in Tehran (Photo: Reuters)

Following a wave of Israeli air strikes across the Islamic Republic of Iran, the latter on Friday launched more than 100 drones towards Benjamin Netanyahu’s country.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was briefed on the situation and Israeli strikes, said, “The Zionist regime has prepared for itself a bitter, painful fate, which it will definitely see."

The Iranian military too, in an X post, posted videos of attacks, and wrote, “See you very soon".

Meanwhile, Israel’s military said it was making an effort to shoot them down

“Iran launched approximately 100 UAVs towards Israeli territory, which we are working to intercept," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin told reporters.

He added that Israel’s strikes on Iran involved 200 fighter jets striking about 100 targets across Iran.

Early on Friday, Israel launched widescale strikes against Iran, saying it targeted nuclear facilities, ballistic missile factories and military commanders and that this was “the start" of a prolonged operation to prevent Tehran from building an atomic weapon.

Iranian media and witnesses reported explosions, including at the country’s main uranium enrichment facility at Natanz, while Israel declared a state of emergency in anticipation of retaliatory missile and drone strikes.

Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards corps said its top commander, Hossein Salami, was killed, and state media reported the unit’s headquarters in Tehran had been hit.

Several children had been killed in a strike on a residential area in the capital, Reuters quoted the Revolutionary Guards corps as saying.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in a statement that Israel had “unleashed its wicked and bloody" hand in a crime against Iran and that it would receive “a bitter fate for itself".

An Israeli military official said Iran had enough material to make 15 nuclear bombs within days.

As the tensions escalated, the Indian Embassy in Iran advised all Indian nationals and those of Indian-origin to remain vigilant in the wake of Israel’s ‘Rising Lion’ offensive in Tehran.

Meanwhile, the United States said it had no part in the operation, which raises the risk of a fresh escalation in tensions in the Middle East, a major oil-producing region.

Alongside extensive air strikes, Israel’s Mossad spy agency led a series of covert sabotage operations inside Iran, Axios reported, citing a senior Israeli official.

These operations were aimed at damaging Iran’s strategic missile sites and its air defence capabilities.

ALSO READ | ‘Deeply Concerned’: India Urges Israel And Iran To De-Escalate, Return To Diplomacy

Vani Mehrotra

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

Vani Mehrotra is the Deputy News Editor at News18.com. She has nearly 10 years of experience in both national and international news and has previously worked on multiple desks.

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News world Iran Launches Over 100 Drones After Israel's Deadly Strikes, IDF Says 'Working To Intercept'