IDF says it destroyed former Iranian leader Ali Khamenei’s plane at Tehran airport

The Israeli Air Force struck and destroyed the aircraft of former Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei at Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport overnight, the military says.

The IDF says the plane had been used by Khamenei and other top Iranian officials “to advance military procurement and manage relations with axis countries through domestic and international flights.”

The military adds that the destruction of the “strategic asset” is a blow to Iran’s “coordination capabilities” with proxy groups, its “building of military power, and the regime’s rehabilitation capabilities.”

חיל-האוויר השמיד את מטוסו של מנהיג משטר הטרור האיראני בשדה התעופה ״מהאראבד״ שבטהרן – המטוס שימש את עלי ח׳אמנהאי, מנהיג משטר הטרור האיראני, בכירים נוספים ממשטר הטרור וגורמים בצבא איראן, לקידום רכש צבאי ולניהול קשרים עם מדינות הציר באמצעות טיסות פנים וחוץ.

השמדת המטוס פוגעת… pic.twitter.com/lOtRRIHTff

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) March 16, 2026

Earlier this month, the IAF struck and destroyed 16 aircraft at Mehrabad Airport that the military said were used by the Quds Force, the extraterritorial arm of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to ship weapons and cash to proxy terror groups, chief among them Hezbollah in Lebanon.

According to the military, Iran had moved some of the aircraft into storage areas for out-of-service planes in an attempt to make it more difficult for Israel to identify them.