[News] IRGC claims 'total air dominance' over Israel

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 IRGC claims 'total air dominance' over Israel

The declaration comes after Israel and the US claimed air dominance over
Iran, as both sides escalate strikes and psychological warfare in a battle
over the skies

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

JUN 18, 2025 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/irgc-claims-total-air-dominance-over-israel
(Photo credit: Menahem Kahana/Agence France-Presse - Getty Images)

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) declared
<https://en.mehrnews.com/news/233276/Iran-takes-control-over-Israel-airspace>
“complete control over the skies” of Israel in a statement on 18 June,
following a wave of missile strikes.

The IRGC said it launched first-generation Fattah missiles targeting the
occupied territories in response to “the Tel Aviv regime’s aggression on
Iranian soil.” According to the statement, the missiles penetrated
Israeli missile
defense <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/31437?utm_source=chatgpt.com>
systems and repeatedly struck shelters.

The claim was made as Israeli and US officials declared complete control
over Iranian airspace, with Iranian forces countering by announcing their
own control over the skies of the occupied territories.

Just four days into its air campaign, the Israeli military said it can now
fly over Tehran “without facing major resistance” after crippling Iran’s
air defenses, enabling Israel to strike a wider range of targets with
relative ease.

Soon after declaring aerial supremacy, Israel warned residents of the
Iranian capital to evacuate and appeared to strike the headquarters of
Iran’s state television broadcaster during a live broadcast.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the strikes – launched under
Operation Lion's Courage – would continue until Iran’s nuclear facilities
and missile stockpiles are destroyed.

US President Donald Trump echoed the Israeli claim, writing on Truth
Social, “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran ...
it doesn’t compare to American-made, conceived, and manufactured ‘stuff.’”

Iran's Fattah-1 is the country’s first hypersonic missile, unveiled in 2023
and named by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It was used in the latest wave of
strikes as part of Operation True Promise 3, with the IRGC attributing its
airspace control to the missile’s performance.

The Fattah-1 is designed to evade missile defense systems like Iron Dome
and Arrow and is referred to by Iranian forces as the “Israel-striker.” It
is a 12-meter-long, medium-range missile with a 200-kilogram warhead, a
range of up to 1,400 kilometers, and a single-stage solid-fuel propulsion
system.

Equipped with a hypersonic glide vehicle (HGV), it is capable of mid-flight
maneuverability and reaches speeds up to 17,900 kilometers per hour –
around Mach 14.6.

While dozens of Fattah-1 missiles were previously used in Operation True
Promise 2 in October 2024, this marks their first confirmed deployment in
the current war, which erupted on 13 June after Israeli strikes on Iranian
military and nuclear sites triggered retaliatory attacks from Tehran.
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