Israel struck Tehran on Sunday in what Al Jazeera's correspondent described as attacks 'unprecedented in size and volume'1. Explosions hit eastern Tehran near the Shahid Babaei Expressway. Simultaneous strikes landed across Isfahan, Karaj, Ahvaz, and Bandar Abbas. A hospital was struck in Ahvaz. One person was killed at a radio station in Bandar Abbas2. The attacks came fewer than 24 hours before Trump claimed productive talks with Iran — the military and diplomatic tracks moving in opposite directions.
The geographic spread tracks Iran's military-industrial map. Isfahan houses a newly disclosed underground enrichment facility that the IAEA has been denied access to inspect. Karaj contains centrifuge component manufacturing under Western sanctions. Ahvaz sits in Khuzestan, Iran's oil-producing heartland and a province with a substantial Arab minority Tehran has long treated as a security concern. Bandar Abbas is the principal Iranian port on the strait of Hormuz and headquarters of the IRGC Navy's southern command. The target selection is consistent with a campaign working systematically from nuclear infrastructure to naval chokepoints, across the full breadth of the country.
CENTCOM's updated totals frame the pace: 9,000 targets struck in 25 days, up from 8,000 the previous week, with 140 vessels destroyed and over 9,000 combat flights flown. CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper said Iran now fires missiles 'one or two at a time' versus dozens at the war's start — a shift Cooper characterised as 'desperation.' The IRGC's own account contradicts this: it announced its 70th wave of Operation True Promise 4 on Saturday, claiming continued offensive capacity. Both characterisations serve their respective audiences. What the strike data makes plain is that the tempo has increased, not plateaued, between week three and week four.
The hospital hit in Ahvaz adds to a civilian toll the Iranian Red Crescent puts at over 81,000 damaged building units — hospitals, schools, and emergency facilities — with nine hospitals now non-operational3. HRANA, an independent human rights organisation, has documented at least 1,407 civilian deaths including 214 children, calling this 'an absolute, absolute minimum'4. Iran's health ministry reported approximately 210 children killed and more than 1,500 under-18s injured. The IDF's stated operational timeline extends through Passover in mid-April, with contingencies beyond. Tehran's civilian infrastructure — already degraded after 25 days — faces at minimum four more weeks of bombardment at an increasing rate.
