Tehran / Washington — The United States claims that a joint US‑Israeli strike has “hit and destroyed” the central headquarters of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in one of the most audacious blows of the conflict so far.

In a late‑night briefing, a senior Pentagon official said a coordinated salvo of stealth aircraft, cruise missiles and precision‑guided munitions struck a heavily fortified command complex on the outskirts of Tehran that Washington identifies as the IRGC’s primary nerve center. “Our assessment is that the facility is functionally destroyed,” the official declared, adding that key command-and-control nodes were “severed in minutes.”

Israeli sources, speaking off the record, described the operation as the culmination of months of intelligence‑gathering, cyber‑probing and surveillance by drones and satellites. Satellite imagery circulating among Western media shows a vast, blackened crater where multiple buildings once stood, with secondary explosions reportedly continuing for more than an hour after impact — a sign, analysts say, of munitions stores and sensitive equipment going up in flames.

In Tehran, state television has acknowledged “enemy attacks” on “military and administrative facilities” but insists the IRGC’s command structure remains intact, accusing Washington and Tel Aviv of “wishful thinking.” Nevertheless, unusual gaps in official messaging and the conspicuous absence of several senior commanders from scheduled appearances have fuelled speculation that the strike dealt a serious blow.

Regional observers warn that if the IRGC’s main headquarters has indeed been crippled, Iran may respond with less coordinated but more reckless retaliation through proxies and missile units acting on standing orders. The result, they say, could be a more unpredictable and explosive phase of the war — precisely when the world is least equipped to contain it.