The Israeli military confirmed on Wednesday that one of its drones had been shot down while operating over Iranian territory, marking the first admitted drone loss since the conflict began last week.
According to an army statement released on Wednesday, June 18, the drone was downed in Iran after being struck by a surface-to-air missile.
“No injuries were reported, and there is no risk of an information breach,” the statement assured.
Iranian state television aired footage of the wreckage, identifying it as an armed Israeli Air Force Hermes drone in the central city of Isfahan.
Since last Friday, the Israeli air force has been conducting daily unprovoked raids over Iran, focusing primarily on missile sites as well as other military and nuclear facilities.
Military spokesperson Effie Defrin insisted that Israel continues to “operate freely” over Iran with air strikes involving “dozens of aircraft of various types.”
“We will continue to strike anywhere within Iran that we choose. Yes, there is resistance, but we control the skies and will maintain that control,” he stated during a televised press conference on Wednesday.
On Monday, the Israeli military declared it had achieved “total air superiority in the skies over Tehran.”
On Wednesday morning, over 50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets targeted several locations in the Tehran area, including a facility producing uranium enrichment centrifuges, according to an earlier military statement.
