Iran Launches New Missile Barrage on Israel as Tel Aviv Claims Air Superiority Over Tehran

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025.

Iran fired a fresh wave of over 100 ballistic missiles at Israel early Monday, killing at least five people and injuring dozens more, as the ongoing conflict between the two nations escalated into its fourth day. The Israeli military responded by announcing that it had achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran, targeting key Iranian command centers and missile launch sites in what it described as a crippling blow to Iran’s military capabilities.

Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces, stated that Israeli fighter jets destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, which he said represented about a third of Iran’s arsenal. Ten Quds Force command centers in Tehran, belonging to the elite external operations wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), were also struck.

Smoke rises from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been struck by an Israeli strike on Saturday, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 16, 2025.

“At this time, we can say that we have achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran’s skies,” Defrin said. “Israeli strikes amount to a deep and comprehensive blow to the Iranian threat.”

The missile barrage from Iran was in retaliation for Israel’s earlier attacks that targeted Iranian military leaders, nuclear scientists, and uranium enrichment sites. Those strikes, which began on Friday, have killed at least 224 people in Iran and wounded over 1,200, according to official figures. Human rights organizations, however, suggest the death toll is significantly higher, with over 400 confirmed dead, including 197 civilians.

Cars drive on a highway as smoke rises from an oil storage facility after it appeared to have been struck by an Israeli strike on Saturday, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, June 16, 2025.

Among the Israeli casualties were two men and two women in their 70s, and a fifth victim, killed when Iranian missiles struck residential areas in the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva. The blasts shattered apartment walls, blew out windows, and left multiple families homeless. In addition to the fatalities, 87 people were hospitalized, and emergency workers were still searching for those trapped under rubble.

“We clearly see that our civilians are being targeted,” said Israeli police spokesman Dean Elsdunne at the scene of the destruction in Petah Tikva. “And this is just one scene. We have other sites like this near the coast, in the south.”

People evacuate after a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday June 16, 2025. Baz Ratner/AP

One Iranian missile also landed near the U.S. consulate in Tel Aviv, causing minor damage but no injuries, according to U.S. officials.

Iran has now launched more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israeli targets since the outbreak of hostilities. Explosions from Israeli air defenses intercepting incoming missiles rocked Tel Aviv just before dawn Monday, sending thick plumes of smoke into the sky over the coastal city.

Rescue team work at the site where a missile launched from Iran struck Tel Aviv, Israel, Monday, June 16, 2025.

Despite the devastation, some Israelis voiced strong support for the military campaign. “It’s totally worth it,” said 60-year-old Petah Tikva resident Yoram Suki, whose apartment was destroyed. “This is for the sake of our children and grandchildren.”

Iranian authorities, vowing continued retaliation, declared that the next wave of strikes would be “more forceful, severe, precise and destructive than previous ones.” The IRGC’s statement followed Israeli airstrikes that expanded beyond military targets to include government buildings and oil refineries.

As tensions intensify, the possibility of full-scale war looms larger. The regional fallout continues to deepen, with rising fears of broader destabilization.

Iran’s state-run media also reported the execution of Dr. Esmail Fekri, a physician imprisoned since 2023 and convicted of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. Authorities claimed he had provided “sensitive and classified” information and was executed on Monday.

The latest violence follows reports that Mossad had placed explosive drones and precision weapons inside Iran ahead of Israel’s opening strikes. Tehran has since arrested multiple individuals suspected of espionage.

While Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, Western intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency warn that Tehran possesses enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons if it chooses to do so.

The unprecedented scale of the military exchange and the direct targeting of each country’s infrastructure signal a dangerous shift in Middle East hostilities, with both sides vowing no retreat.