“The gates of hell will be opened”: Iran’s Operation True Promise 3 Retaliates Against US-Zionist Terror

Farrukh Abadi

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) reported Friday night local time that it successfully carried out Operation True Promise 3, involving hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones in what it described as a “crushing and precise response against dozens of targets, military centers, and air bases of the usurping zionist regime in the occupied territories.” Prior to the attack, the newly-appointed IRGC chief Major General Mohammad Pakpour wrote in a letter, “Soon, the gates of hell will be opened upon this child-killing regime,” adding that the IRGC would, “bring the criminal and illegitimate Zionist regime to a bitter and painful fate with massive and destructive consequences.”

Operation True Promise 1 and 2, which took place in April and October 2024, respectfully, marked the first time Iran directly attacked Israel and was in response to US and Israeli provocations as well as the Israeli genocide against Palestinians.

The latest attack is in response to two waves of Israeli bombardment against Iran on Friday, the first taking place early Friday morning and the second later in the day. Israeli military officials claim it struck 200 targets across the country. The attacks killed senior military officials, government officials, nuclear scientists, and civilians across Iran, and struck nuclear facilities, military bases, and residential apartments. By the afternoon, the death toll in Tehran numbered 78, with 329 wounded.

Both sides continued to trade missile attacks into Saturday morning. Israel has set its sights on Fordo, Iran’s second-largest and most heavily fortified nuclear complex, and has promised to continue its attacks for “as many days as it takes” to disarm Iran. So far, both Iran and US monopoly media report that Iran’s nuclear facilities remain largely intact.

Iran’s Response

Iran successfully intercepted several Israeli fighter jets and drones. According to Iranian media outlet Tasnim News Agency, Iran shot down two Israeli fighter jets and captured one of the pilots.

According to Israeli military officials, at least seven sites in Tel Aviv and its surrounding area were hit by Iranian missiles despite the combined forces of Israel and the US attempting to intercept them. Iranian media Press TV reports “dozens of military installations have been struck by Iranian ballistic missiles in the initial phase of the operation, resulting in significant casualties” and that “some of the Iranian projectiles had successfully targeted the site of the Israeli regime’s military affairs ministry.” A former Iranian diplomat claimed that a nuclear research center in Tel Aviv has also been struck. Videos from the ground in Tel Aviv and verified by US media monopolies show at least one missile successfully striking an area of the occupied city where important military facilities are located, including the headquarters of the IDF and a sensitive command site.

In Gaza, Palestinians celebrated Iran’s Operation as the sky lit up with ballistic missiles raining down on Tel Aviv. Leading Palestinian resistance faction Hamas praised the attacks and condemned Israel’s aggression as “a dangerous escalation that threatens to ignite the region, reflecting the determination of Netanyahu’s extremist regime to drag the region into open confrontations to serve its delusions of dominating the Muslim countries.”

The attacks follow a renewed and intensified campaign led by the US aimed at disarming and weakening Iran, specifically targeting its nuclear enrichment program. The Trump administration entered into negotiations with the Iranian government beginning in April and was set to have its sixth meeting this Sunday. From the start, Trump has made genocidal threats against Iran, promising that he will bomb Iran—either directly or through his attack dog Israel—if it did not completely end all nuclear enrichment.

Despite trying to openly distance itself from the war, US officials admitted participating in intercepting Iranian missiles while the terrorist Trump administration praised Israel’s attack, claiming more were scheduled. “Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left,” Trump said following the strikes, threatening “even more brutal” attacks will come if they do not. Iran has so far refused the blackmail, saying that it will not attend scheduled talks on Sunday, and has continued to strike Israel and defend itself.

Photo: Iranian missiles rain down on Israel as part of Operation True Promise 3 in this photo taken from the Gaza Strip. Retrieved from Resistance News Network.

---

The Worker is an entirely volunteer-run revolutionary newspaper free from and radically antagonistic to corporate influence. We rely on the support of our readers to sustain our editorial line in service of the working class and the reconstitution of its party, the Communist Party. Make a one-time or recurring donation to our newspaper today: