The United States has smashed Iran’s largest drone carrier in a coordinated night assault, as joint US–Israeli strikes pummelled military targets around Tehran and sent Israeli jets roaring over the region, defence officials say.

The converted “WWII‑size” carrier – a vast container vessel bristling with launch rails and hangars for Shahed‑type drones – was anchored off Iran’s southern coast when US destroyers unleashed a volley of Tomahawk cruise missiles. Infrared footage shows multiple impacts tearing through the flat deck, followed seconds later by towering secondary explosions as fuel, munitions and packed UAVs detonated in chains of fire. Commanders describe the ship as “mission‑killed and sinking at the pier.”

Minutes later, the war leapt inland. Waves of US strike aircraft and Israeli F‑35s and F‑15s hit Revolutionary Guard command hubs, air‑defence sites and drone research facilities on the outskirts of Tehran. Residents reported deafening booms, glowing horizons and rolling power cuts as blasts rippled through industrial districts and suspected underground complexes. Hospitals in the capital scrambled to cope with dozens of wounded, while officials imposed tight media controls.

Tehran denounces the attacks as “a declaration of total war,” insisting the drone carrier will be replaced and vowing that long‑range missiles will answer “in kind” against US bases and Israeli cities. Washington and Jerusalem counter that the operation has “severely degraded” Iran’s ability to launch drone swarms across the region.

As smoke still hangs over Tehran and the gutted hulk of Iran’s drone flagship lists in its harbour, diplomats warn the strikes may mark a new phase of the conflict—one in which neither side seems interested in leaving the other any capacity to climb down.