Israeli operations are intensifying alongside a parallel U.S.-led track to settle the conflict through diplomacy and end the war.
Israel has accelerated its air campaign against Iran’s military-industrial base, seeking to inflict maximum damage on weapons production and missile infrastructure as the possibility of a U.S.-brokered cease-fire begins to take shape.
Senior officials in Jerusalem told Epoch Magazine Israel that Israeli planners are preparing for a scenario in which U.S. President Donald Trump could declare a cease-fire within days or weeks. In anticipation, the Israeli military has stepped up the tempo and scope of its operations, aiming to degrade Iran’s long-term ability to rebuild its military capabilities.
Israeli intelligence assessments indicate that Iran’s leadership remains stable for now, sources told Epoch Magazine Israel, reducing the likelihood of near-term internal collapse and reinforcing the strategic aim of degrading Iran’s weapons production by striking targets while the window for military action remains open.
Focus Shifts to Weapons Production
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have said their campaign is increasingly focused on systematically dismantling Iran’s weapons production network, targeting facilities involved in the manufacturing, development, and storage of advanced military systems.
Over the past day, more than 60 Israeli Air Force warplanes carried out a wave of strikes across Iran, hitting dozens of military targets using more than 120 munitions, according to IDF statements. The strikes concentrated on areas near Tehran and in central Iran, as well as missile-related infrastructure in the west of the country.
“In the strikes carried out across Tehran, the Air Force targeted infrastructure and sites used by the regime to produce weaponry, with an emphasis on ballistic missile production sites,” the military said in a March 27 post on X.
Israel’s strikes on March 27 included a major facility in the central city of Yazd, described as a key site for missile and sea mine production.
“The site was used for the planning, development, assembly, and storage of advanced missiles intended for launch from cruise platforms, submarines, and helicopters,” the IDF said in a separate post on X, adding that Iranian forces used these assets to hit maritime targets, potentially vessels seeking transit through the Strait of Hormuz, the key oil shipment waterway that Iran has tightened its grip on since the war started.
Additional Israeli strikes targeted launchers and storage facilities tied to Iran’s missile forces, which pose a direct threat to its territory, the Israeli air force said in a post on X.
The IDF has also said that, over the course of the campaign, it has struck more than 1,000 targets across Iran as part of its effort to degrade the regime’s military capabilities.
The campaign marks a shift from earlier phases of the war, when Israel targeted a broader range of military and regime-linked sites, including internal security forces.
With little sign of imminent regime collapse, Israel is now focusing on weakening Iran’s war-making capacity.
By Tom Ozimek
