Tehran woke to black smoke and sirens after a rapid‑fire Israeli air campaign tore into Iran’s IRGC Aerospace Force headquarters, striking at the heart of the regime’s missile and drone command just hours after a wave of Iranian cluster‑armed missiles battered Israeli cities, defence sources say.

Residents in eastern Tehran reported a roar of jets shortly after 3:00 a.m., followed by a rolling series of explosions around a heavily guarded complex long known as the brain of Iran’s ballistic and UAV programmes. Phone videos show towering fireballs punching into the sky and a thick, oily plume spreading over the capital as secondary blasts rip through fuel and munitions depots buried beneath the site.

Israeli officials, speaking off the record, describe the raid as a “blitz decapitation strike”, targeting underground command bunkers, mission‑planning centres and laboratories used to develop cluster‑capable warheads and guidance systems. Intelligence units had tracked senior Aerospace Force officers moving into the compound to celebrate the previous day’s missile salvo on Tel Aviv and Haifa, prompting a rapid decision to hit “while the architects were still in the room.”

Iranian state media concedes “serious damage” and casualties among “specialist personnel” but insists key capabilities will be restored, blaming the attack on US‑Israeli “joint aggression” and vowing new barrages of missiles and drones. Hospitals in Tehran report dozens of wounded from blast and falling debris, while entire districts woke up under a grey ceiling of smoke and dust.

For strategists on both sides, the message is stark: by ripping into the Aerospace HQ the morning after a cluster‑missile attack, Israel is signalling that every escalation from Tehran will be answered not just at launch sites—but at the command centres where Iran’s most dangerous weapons are conceived and controlled.