Iran Says US-Israeli Airstrikes Killed Four Army Officers

(MENAFN) Four Iranian army officers were killed early Sunday while conducting an air defense operation against what Tehran characterized as US-Israeli "hostile aircraft" over central Iran, a state news agency reported.

The army's public relations office confirmed the deaths occurred in the Mahyar area, located south of Isfahan in Isfahan province, where the officers were forward-deployed as part of a rapid-response air defense unit.

According to the statement, the officers engaged a multi-platform aerial assault — including enemy fighter jets, helicopters, armed drones, and supporting aircraft — firing on the incoming targets. At least one shoulder-fired missile successfully struck a "hostile aircraft" before the officers were killed in retaliatory strikes carried out by enemy forces.

The loss of the four servicemen marks one of the most direct and deadly confrontations reported on Iranian soil since the conflict escalated sharply following the joint US-Israeli offensive on Iran launched on Feb. 28 — a campaign that has claimed more than 1,340 lives to date, including former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Tehran has since retaliated with sustained waves of drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf states hosting US military assets, while simultaneously restricting the movement of commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

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