Above photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images.
Yemen closes Bab al-Mandab Strait to Israeli shipping.
Israel launched heavy strikes on Iran on Monday, hours after Tehran retaliated to Tel Aviv’s strike on Beirut’s southern suburb.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced “Operation Victory” on 8 June, after launching new barrages of ballistic missiles at sites in Israel following Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic.
The escalation, which was triggered by Israel’s brutal war on Lebanon, has also seen Yemen close the Bab al-Mandab Strait to Israeli shipping.
The IRGC said in a statement that Operation Victory targeted “important centers of the strategic air bases of Nevatim and Tel-Nof.”
It added that the operation was carried out in “response to the child-killing Zionist regime’s missile aggression against several radar sites in three parts of the country.”
“Combat and operational units are fully prepared to carry out extensive operations on all fronts and have prepared action plans to respond to the enemy’s scenarios.”
VIDEO | Footage from earlier this morning shows a direct Iranian missile impact in the Itamar settlement near Nablus in the occupied West Bank. pic.twitter.com/6RTiIMPZL9
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) June 8, 2026
Earlier on Monday, Israel attacked Najafabad in Isfahan province, as well as Tehran and Tabriz. Iranian state broadcaster IRIB and IRNA news agency reported multiple powerful explosions.
Israel also struck the Karun Mahshahr Petrochemical Complex in Bandar-e-Mashahr, Khuzestan Province.
This morning, Israel, backed by the Trump administration, attacked the Karun Mahshahr Petrochemical Complex in Bandar-e-Mashahr, Khuzestan Province, as well as launching strikes on Tehran.
The complex is responsible for approximately 28% of Iran’s petrochemical production and… pic.twitter.com/QyTt7OBeEX
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) June 8, 2026
The complex is responsible for approximately 28 percent of Iran’s petrochemical production and has temporarily been shut down.
Following the Israeli attacks, all flights from Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran were suspended for an indefinite period.
VIDEO | Following Israeli attacks, all flights from Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran were suspended for an indefinite period. pic.twitter.com/wyjXOmMmCU
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) June 8, 2026
Iranian forces responded with ballistic missile launches toward Israel.
The Yemeni Armed Forces (YAF) also announced a missile attack on Israel on 8 June, while declaring its closure of the Bab al-Mandab Strait to Israeli shipping.
“In an effort to break the unjust and oppressive siege imposed by the US enemy on our people and the free and proud nations of the axis in Lebanon, Gaza, and Iran, the Yemeni Armed Forces have launched a missile strike targeting sensitive Israeli objectives,” the YAF said.
It also announced a “complete and total naval blockade against the Israeli enemy in the Red Sea, and we consider all enemy movements a military target for our armed forces from the moment of this statement’s announcement.”
The escalation came after Israeli jets bombed the southern suburb of Beirut on Sunday. Iran responded with a ballistic missile attack on Ramat David Air Base.
VIDEO | Circulating footage shows a direct Iranian missile impact on a target in the north, despite Israeli claims that all missiles were intercepted. pic.twitter.com/ccPLVHMvRf
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) June 7, 2026
US President Donald Trump claimed he would call Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and urge him not to respond after Iran’s late-night strikes on Israel.
Tehran had repeatedly warned that strikes on Beirut would trigger escalation. Iran is demanding that Lebanon be included in any agreement with the US.
Israel has been carrying out an ethnic cleansing campaign in south Lebanon, carrying out daily waves of brutal airstrikes. Dozens of villages have been occupied, over a million are displaced, and thousands have been killed by Israel in Lebanon.
