Israel claims Iran's F-14 jets destroyed in attack on Isfahan airport; oil depots hit in Tehran

"Detection and air defense systems that posed a threat to Israeli Air Force aircraft were struck,” statement by IDF on Telegram said.

Updated on: Mar 8, 2026, 13:40:31 IST

Written by Aarish Chhabra

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The Israeli military claimed on Saturday that, besides Tehran, it carried out airstrikes on an airport in Iran’s Isfahan city too, destroying a number of F-14 fighters — it did not say how many.

Israel also hit Tehran (Vantor/AFP Photo)

Attacks spanned across the Isfahan province, killing at least 11 people as US-Israeli fighter jets hit manufacturing workshops and a horse-riding club, news agency Tasnim reported. At least eight cities in the central province were hit: Isfahan, Najafabad, Aran, Bidgol, Barkhar, Khomenei Shahr, Shahreza, Falavarjan and Mobarakeh, it added.

Follow: Live updates on US-Israel's attack on Iran

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) posted on social media platform Telegram about the attack on the airport: “Additionally, detection systems and air defense systems that posed a threat to Israeli Air Force aircraft were struck."

The IDF further claimed, “This strike is in addition to the strike which dismantled 16 ‘Quds Force’ aircraft two days ago [Friday] at the Mehrabad airport in Tehran."

Isfahan the province also houses a nuclear energy facility, and has been at the centre of American and Israeli governments' focus during talks with Iran held until a few weeks ago.

In national capital Tehran and the province of Alborz, at least four tanker drivers were killed in Israel’s attacks on oil depots, according to the news agency Fars.

The US and Israel are also mulling whether to deploy special forces inside Iran to seize its stockpile of highly enriched uranium, according to a report by Axios. That is likely only at a “later stage”, though, after both countries decide that Iran can no longer mount a serious defence, the report added.

The US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28, sparking swift retaliation by the Islamic republic which responded with missile attacks across the region. The war has dragged in global powers, upended the world's energy and transport sectors, and brought chaos to even usually peaceful areas of the volatile region, such as the UAE where Iran is attacking US bases.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Aarish Chhabra
Aarish Chhabra is an Associate Editor with the Hindustan Times online team, writing news reports and explanatory articles, besides overseeing coverage for the website. His career spans nearly two decades across India's most respected newsrooms in print, digital, and broadcast. He has reported, written, and edited across formats — from breaking news and live election coverage, to analytical long-reads and cultural commentary — building a body of work that reflects both editorial rigour and a deep curiosity about the society he writes for. Aarish studied English literature, sociology and history, besides journalism, at Panjab University, Chandigarh, and started his career in that city, eventually moving to Delhi. He is also the author of ‘The Big Small Town: How Life Looks from Chandigarh’, a collection of critical essays originally serialised as a weekly column in the Hindustan Times, examining the culture and politics of a city that is far more than its famous architecture — and, in doing so, holding up a mirror to modern India. In stints at the BBC, The Indian Express, NDTV, and Jagran New Media, he worked across formats and languages; mainly English, also Hindi and Punjabi. He was part of the crack team for the BBC Explainer project replicated across the world by the broadcaster. At Jagran, he developed editorial guides and trained journalists on integrity and content quality. He has also worked at the intersection of journalism and education. At the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, he developed a website that simplified academic research in management. At Bennett University's Times School of Media in Noida, he taught students the craft of digital journalism: from newsgathering and writing, to social media strategy and video storytelling. Having moved from a small town to a bigger town to a mega city for education and work, his intellectual passions lie at the intersection of society, politics, and popular culture — a perspective that informs both his writing and his view of the world. When not working, he is constantly reading long-form journalism or watching brainrot content, sometimes both at the same time.Read More

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