Iranian air defenses intercept Tomahawk missile, down US-Israeli reconnaissance drone

Iranian air defense forces intercepted an incoming Tomahawk cruise missile and shot down a US-Israeli reconnaissance drone in Western Iran, say officials, as the number of downed hostile drones has surpassed 130. 

Kazem Kazemi, the governor of Bijar in Kordestan Province, announced the interception and destruction of the cruise missile near the Gol Tappeh road in his county on Friday morning.

"The air defense systems of the western region of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army identified and destroyed this missile before it reached its target," Kazemi said.

Emphasizing the readiness of the armed forces, Kazemi added, "The interception operation was carried out with high precision and speed, and the region's defense systems reacted to the threat in the shortest possible time."

In a separate but concurrent development, the Public Relations department of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) in Qazvin Province reported the successful downing of a hostile unmanned aerial vehicle on Friday.

"At dawn today, an American-Zionist reconnaissance drone that had entered the airspace of Qazvin province was destroyed and shot down by the nationwide air defense fire of the devoted forces of the Hazrat Saheb al-Amr (AS) IRGC in the Avaj region," the statement read.

With these latest interceptions, the number of hostile drones destroyed by the Iranian Armed Forces' integrated air defense network since the beginning of the ongoing US-Israeli war of aggression has surpassed 130.

Beyond unmanned aircraft, Iranian air defenses have also struck several intruding fighter jets. On Wednesday, the IRGC announced that it successfully targeted another invading US warplane in Iranian airspace.

The targeted F-18 fighter jet is the fourth US warplane Iran has successfully struck since February 28, when the US and the Israeli regime launched their war of aggression against Iran.

Iran also managed to target the US military's advanced F-35 stealth fighter jet earlier in the war.

A recent report has disclosed that the F-35 struck by Iranian air defense units took significant damage and will not be able to resume operations anytime soon. According to the US public radio station NPR, the warplane sustained serious damage, and the pilot suffered shrapnel wounds.

Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for United States Central Command, had earlier told CNN that the fifth-generation jet was "flying a combat mission over Iran" when it was forced to make an emergency landing at an undisclosed US air base in West Asia.

This acknowledgment marks the first time the US has admitted that Iranian air defenses managed to hit one of its fighter jets since the start of the unprovoked war of aggression.

On Saturday, an unnamed military source told Tasnim news agency that Iran utilized a domestically-developed air defense system to hit the US F-35 stealth fighter jet.

The continued high-level performance of Iranian air defenses comes in stark contrast to, and despite, the US military's repeated claims to have destroyed the force.

The United States and Israel initiated an unprovoked military aggression against Iran following the assassination of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei, along with several high-ranking military commanders and civilians, on February 28.
Both military installations and civilian facilities have been attacked throughout Iran, leading to considerable loss of life and widespread damage to infrastructure.

In response, Iranian armed forces have carried out over 80 waves of retaliatory missile and drone strikes against US interests across West Asia and Israeli positions in the occupied territories.

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