Israel has shifted its air campaign from hitting command centers to hunting individual Basij checkpoints and roadblocks across Tehran, deploying fleets of loitering drones guided in many cases by tips from ordinary Iranian citizens, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
The operational pivot came last week as Israeli officials openly questioned whether air power alone could bring down the Iranian regime, according to "Hvylya", citing The Wall Street Journal. Rather than scaling back, the military expanded its target set to the street level.
The drones hit dozens of targets, killing two to four security personnel at a time. On Thursday alone, at least three different checkpoints were targeted, including at the Imam Reza Highway and on Shahed Street in northern Tehran. The pace intensified over the weekend: on Sunday night, Israeli forces conducted a targeted hunt, hitting 11 checkpoints including in Enghelab and Azadi squares and along several expressways.
The intelligence fueling these strikes increasingly came from Iranian civilians. Israeli security officials confirmed that ordinary Iranians have been sending tips identifying the locations of security force positions. The same mechanism produced one of the war's highest-profile kills: it was a tip from Iranians that revealed Basij militia leader Gholamreza Soleimani was hiding with his deputies in a tent in a wooded area of Tehran.
On the ground, Israel also went after police infrastructure - destroying warehouses full of computer equipment, vehicles and police gear, according to target lists reviewed by the Journal. Motorcycle units, which have been central to suppressing protests, were a particular focus.
Iranians confirmed the checkpoint attacks have been taking place. The success of the broader campaign is difficult to assess independently, however, as Iran has shut down the internet and is closely controlling information. People who share videos of damage have been arrested.
Earlier, "Hvylya" reported: Iran's Hidden Weapon Against Trump: What Replaced Their Destroyed Military in the Gulf.