Israel and the U.S. Share the Destruction of Iran’s Regime Infrastructure

“They are finished (…). This war is seven times more powerful than the previous one.” With those few words, U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth summed up the diection the war – launched on February 28 by the United States and Israel against the Iranian mullahs’sbregime – has taken, or is now beginning to take. The U.S. minister stressed that this war remains in its early stages, specifying that additional aircraft and military forces will be dispatched soon to the Middle East to take part in ongoing operations.

The Secretary of War’s remarks clearly reflect the developments now unfolding in Iran. March 4, 2026, was marked above all by intense and sustained airstrikes carried out by the Israeli Air Force against regime buildings, command centers and infrastructure in the Tehran region. More than one hundred Basij centers – the repressive armed wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) – were reportedly targeted by Israeli bombers.

“No Revolutionary Guard building will be left standing,” an official Israeli source said, adding that the U.S. and Israeli militaries are dividing the task of destroying the regime’s military and civilian infrastructure. According to the same source, Israeli aircraft are focusing on western Iran, targeting regime buildings, command centers and civilian infrastructure, while the United States is taking charge in the southwest, striking nuclear sites, ballistic missiles, launch pads, ballistic missile production facilities, air defense systems and naval forces.

Turkey Targeted by an Iranian Missile

The most striking development on March 4 was the launch of an Iranian ballistic missile toward – of all places – Turkey. The missile was intercepted by a NATO unit before reaching its target. The immediate consequence: Ankara did not hold back in criticizing the behavior of the Iranian regime, going so far as to describe Iranian missile strikes against Gulf countries as a “serious mistake.”

Another key development of the day was Qatar’s announcement that it had dismantled a subversive cell allegedly set up by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards to conduct espionage and sabotage operations on Qatari soil.

After Cyprus and the Gulf states – which have been, and continue to be, targeted by Iranian missiles – the attempted strike against Turkey clearly reflects the determination of the Revolutionary Guards to widen the scope of the conflict, in the hope of triggering international mobilization to halt the U.S. and Israeli offensive.

Another major development over the past 24 hours has been the arrival of U.S. B-52 bombers. In practical terms, this signals that American and Israeli aircraft now exercise full control over Iranian airspace – particularly in the south of the country and over the Tehran region – a point confirmed Wednesday by the Secretary of War during a press conference. The B-52s are heavy bombers and therefore relatively slow-moving aircraft. They can be easily detected by radar and, as such, would ordinarily constitute vulnerable targets.

The fact that the U.S. military has deployed B-52s confirms that American and Israeli forces now effectively control Iranian airspace. The entry of the B-52s marks a significant development in the course of the military operations, as these bombers can carry and deliver extremely large bombs with high precision.

The Lebanese Front

On the Lebanese front, the Israeli Air Force has intensified its raids and expanded them into new areas, targeting infrastructure, ammunition depots, and missile and drone stockpiles. On the morning of Wednesday, March 4, heavy and sustained strikes were carried out against the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Over the past 24 hours, airstrikes have spread to new areas, with the Hazmieh district targeted for the first time. The Israeli Air Force struck the Comfort Hotel, where some reports suggest an Iranian diplomat had taken refuge. No information has emerged regarding the diplomat’s fate.

Meanwhile, new areas have been targeted by the Israeli Air Force, including Saadiyate (on the Southern Route), Bchemoun, and Aramoun, where a senior figure from the military branch of the Muslim Brotherhood is reported to have been killed. In Baalbeck, a four-story building was completely destroyed in a raid that caused multiple fatalities.

On the ground, Israeli forces continued their limited deployment inside Lebanese territory on Wednesday, reaching the strategically important town of Khiam, six kilometers from the border. At the same time, Israeli artillery units significantly reinforced their presence along the frontier.

As airstrikes continue across multiple areas, a serious development occurred on Wednesday: the Israeli military called on residents in the entire region south of the Litani River to evacuate their villages and move north of the river. The warning has heightened concerns among local authorities and communities, who fear that Israel may be seeking to establish a broad buffer zone, potentially allowing it at a later stage to impose political and security conditions far beyond the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and the November 2024 ceasefire agreement.

By taking the suicidal initiative of reopening the South Lebanon front at the instigation of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah has effectively handed Israel a golden pretext to impose strategic agreements on the Lebanese state on its own terms in the near future.