The longest range raid of Israel’s attacks on Iran so far has destroyed an Iranian Air Force refueling aircraft, the Israeli Air Force has claimed.
Thick smoke and flames could be seen rising from the tarmac of Mashad Airport, located in the northeast of Iran close to the country’s borders with Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. According to social media reporting, the aircraft targeted was a Boeing 747-100 configured with a flying boom for aerial refueling. Also damaged, and visible in images alongside the raging fire, was a Boeing 747-200 configured for passenger transport.
Babak Taghvaee, a defense journalist who reports extensively on the Iranian military, the 747-100 was Iran’s last operational KC-747. If true, this makes the strike a strong symbolic move by the Israeli Air Force, permanently dealing a crippling blow to Iran’s air force.
#Breaking: The world’s last airworthy KC-747 tanker aircraft (Boeing 747-131F) in use of the #Iranian Air Force was destroyed by the #Israel Air Force in #Mashhad. A former #Iraqi Airways’s Boeing 747-270C of the air force is also severely damaged there.#OperationRisingLion pic.twitter.com/OsEaxrVvjg
— Babak Taghvaee – The Crisis Watch (@BabakTaghvaee1) June 15, 2025
The Israeli Air Force confirmed that the strike on Mashad Airport had taken place, and claimed that a refueling tanker had been destroyed, but did not specify the exact type of aircraft struck. Iran also operates a single KC-707 alongside the KC-747.
The IAF struck an Iranian aerial refueling aircraft at Mashhad Airport in eastern Iran, approximately 2,300 km from Israel: this marks the longest-range strike conducted since the operation has beginning.
The IAF is operating to establish aerial superiority over Iranian airspace. pic.twitter.com/L66foWpvGt
— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) June 15, 2025
Though it cannot be completely confirmed, the image used alongside the official Israeli report depicts an F-16I ‘Sufa’, suggesting this aircraft type might have been the one used for the raid. The F-16I is fitted with conformal fuel tanks, but in this image the aircraft is also seen equipped with external drop tanks. Aerial refueling would likely still be necessary at some stage, but this loadout would offer exceptional range performance that could facilitate such a deep strike.
The sustained air campaign that has been ongoing since Jun. 13 has, according to Israel, disrupted Iranian air defenses to a point where Israel has claimed air superiority from Iran’s western border to Tehran. Some parts of Iran’s air defenses were almost certainly still weakened from last year’s Israeli attack. The Israeli Air Force says it is “working to achieve air superiority throughout Iran”.
Over the last few days, IAF posted pictures of F-16s flying with SDB loadout. With Israeli air superiority in western Iran, I wouldn’t be surprised if F-16s penetrated airspace and dropped these.
Also, an F-35I can carry 8 of these internally. So it’s possible that Adir did that https://t.co/gxKRzq7K7n pic.twitter.com/HkbEFPcCUj
— Doha (@Doha104p3) June 15, 2025
Operation Rising Lion, Israel’s codename for their current campaign, has involved simultaneous airstrikes by dozens of aircraft across the breadth of Iran and well into the capital of Tehran. Penetrating bunker busters have been used to target hardened nuclear facilities, and targeted airstrikes on apartment buildings and government facilities have claimed the lives of a large number of high ranking Iranian officials. Given the urban setting of the latter, it is likely there is also a fairly significant number of civilian casualties.
Iran’s retaliation, also still ongoing in various waves, has involved ballistic missiles and drone attacks against Israeli targets. The skies of Tel Aviv have been lit by rocket trails as Iron Dome and other interceptors attempted to shield the capital, but a number of missiles did break through and strike the city. Video footage captured the exact moments of several of these hits.
Footage of an Iranian ballistic missile hitting a southern suburb of Tel Aviv, Israel overnight. pic.twitter.com/Dod5YGtQar
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 15, 2025
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei said following the Jun. 13 attack that Israel “set itself for a bitter and painful fate and it will definitely receive it,” while Israeli officials have commented to media sources that a decapitation strike on Khamenei himself hasn’t been ruled out. While high ranking members of the Iranian military have been extensively targeted, strikes against Khamenei and possibly other senior political figures are understood to have been warned off by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Israel still desires direct U.S. support for its operation, not least due to the unique capabilities offered by the U.S. Air Force’s strategic bombers that may be the only possible chance of destroying some of Iran’s deepest buried facilities. For this reason, Khamenei has likely been spared in order to appease President Trump and his administration – however, if the conflict drags on further with still no direct aid from the U.S., we may well see Israel take matters into its own hands.
