Tehran, March 6: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Friday that its aerospace forces launched the 21st wave of Operation True Promise, employing swarms of suicide drones and advanced Khayber missiles with cluster warheads to overwhelm and bypass Israel’s multi-layered air defences. The coordinated assault was codenamed “Ya Mu’izz al-Mu’minin.”
Iran stated that its retaliatory campaign would intensify in the coming days, with military officials promising expanded strikes as air defences continue to intercept Israeli and US aircraft and drones.
Lieutenant Colonel Ibrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, told Press TV that Israel has tried to conceal military assets within civilian areas, but Iranian forces are locating and targeting them.
“The military forces and facilities of the Zionist regime have hidden in civilian and public areas,” Zolfaghari said. “But detection and strikes will continue, and in the coming days, attacks will become more intense and widespread.”
He added that Iranian air defences had successfully intercepted and destroyed advanced enemy aircraft over several regions, bringing the total number of drones shot down since the US-Israeli aggression began last Saturday to over 75.
Meanwhile, in New Delhi, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh reiterated that Tehran has “no option” but to conduct a “heroic nationalist defence” against what he described as an American and Israeli “invasion,” vowing that the nation will resist to the “last bullet” and “last soldier.”
Speaking to ANI at the Raisina Dialogue 2026, Khatibzadeh emphasised that Iran is enduring a state of total war.
“The priority right now is for Iran to exercise ultimate resistance. We are under attack by Americans and Israelis, who are trying to inflict maximum damage. Tehran is under constant carpet-bombing, and we have no option but to resist to the last bullet and the last soldier,” he said.
He described the conflict as a necessary stand against external atrocities:
“This is a very heroic, very nationalistic battle. We must stop the aggressor and their atrocities. International law is under attack, as is Iran, and we must stand together against these violations,” Khatibzadeh told ANI.
He also warned that US actions, including the alleged assassination of a head of state, threaten global diplomatic norms:
“Americans have assassinated the head of another state. If this becomes the new norm, no country can maintain normal diplomatic relations,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Times of Israel reported that the Israeli military plans at least another one to two weeks of operations against Iran, aiming to strike thousands more Iranian targets. With the latest wave of strikes and counterstrikes, the conflict on Friday entered Day 6, with neither side showing signs of relenting. (Agency)
