Iran Tests Ballistic Missiles in Preparation for Strike on Israel

Tehran simulates attack on Israeli hangar housing American-made F-35s

Iran test fired advanced ballistic missiles on Tuesday in a series of war drills meant to prepare the Islamic Republic for a strike on Israeli military sites that house American-made F-35 fighter jets, according to the country’s state-controlled media.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is behind a series of recent strikes on American and Israeli positions across the Middle East, “simulated destroying hangars housing the Israeli regime’s United States-procured F-35 warplanes by using ballistic missiles,” according to information about the drills published in Tehran’s official media outlets.

During the war simulation, the IRGC fired “enhanced versions of its Emad and Qadr ballistic missiles against the F-35 hangars located inside a mock-up of the Tel Aviv regime’s Palmachim Airbase,” located just outside of the major Israeli city. Iran claims its missiles are capable of striking deep into Israel and are capable of traveling more than 1,000 miles.

Iran’s latest war drills come as its terrorist proxies in Yemen, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon carry out increasingly deadly operations against U.S. and Israeli forces in the region, including a late January strike by the Houthi militant group that killed three American military members and sparked a spate of retaliatory attacks by America.

An attack on Israel’s store of F-35s would deal a devastating blow to the Jewish state as it faces down a conflict with Hamas on its southern border and an increasingly dangerous threat from Hezbollah on its northern border.

Tensions were also heightened on Wednesday afternoon when the House Intelligence Committee disclosed that it has viewed classified materials outlining “a serious national security threat.”

The committee did not disclose any information about the nature of the threat, instead issuing a vague statement saying that lawmakers are working to get the intelligence declassified.

“The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has made available to all Members of Congress information concerning a serious national security threat,” Rep. Mike Turner (R., Ohio), the committee’s chair, said in the statement. “I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat.”

Further information about the matter was not immediately available and the Intelligence Committee did not immediately respond to a Washington Free Beacon inquiry. Early reports on social media said the Intelligence Committee is referring to a “highly concerning and destabilizing” military move by Russia.

A massive explosion Tuesday at an Iranian gas line also heightened the possibility of an Israeli confrontation with Tehran, as the hardline regime claimed the incident was a “terrorist act of sabotage.”

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister met with the Hamas terror group’s senior leadership during a visit on Tuesday to Qatar, which shelters the organization’s top officials. The meeting signals Tehran will continue backing Hamas as it wages war on Israel in the wake of the Oct. 7 attack that killed more than 1,200 Israelis.