Satellite image of an Iranian airport shows an American-made F-14 Tomcat that Israel turned into a burned wreck
The Israeli military said it bombed two Iranian F-14 Tomcats in Tehran earlier this week.
A new satellite image shows that one of the fighter jets is destroyed while the other looks damaged.
The US sold dozens of F-14s to Iran in the 1970s when the two countries still had ties.
New satellite imagery of an Iranian airfield shows two US-made F-14 fighter jets — one of which looks to be totally destroyed — after they were hit by Israeli airstrikes earlier in the week.
The image, captured on Friday by US commercial satellite imaging company Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider, shows the two F-14s at a facility at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran.
One of the F-14s appears to have taken a hit near the nose, although the full extent of the damage is unclear. However, the other jet directly next to it was reduced to a burned wreck.
Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, a spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces, said on Monday that an IDF drone struck two Iranian F-14s, marking "another loss of strategic weaponry for the enemy." The military published footage showing a direct hit on each aircraft.
RECAP of Our Recent Operations Over Tehran:
🛫 Strike on two F-14 fighter jets that were located at an airport in Tehran. These jets were intended to intercept Israeli aircraft.
❌ Thwarted a UAV launch attempt toward Israel.
🎯 Eliminated a launch cell minutes before launch… pic.twitter.com/y1gY7oBz99
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 16, 2025
The F-14 Tomcat is a multi-role fighter jet made by the US aerospace corporation formerly known as Grumman Aerospace Corporation, now Northrop Grumman. Designed to be launched from aircraft carriers, the plane was introduced by the US Navy in the 1970s and participated in combat missions around the world over the next few decades.
The Navy stopped flying the F-14 in 2006, after replacing it with the F/A-18 Super Hornet made by US defense manufacturer Boeing. However, the F-14 has remained a celebrated aircraft, in part because of its spotlight in the "Top Gun" blockbusters.
The US sold nearly 80 F-14s to Iran, once an American partner, before the 1979 Iranian Revolution ended relations between the two countries. Washington cut support and supplies of spare parts for the Tomcats, and Tehran's inventory slowly declined over time as maintenance and logistical challenges mounted. Iran still has its jets, though, and is the only remaining operator.
Iran's F-14s, like much of its air force, are relatively obsolete due to international sanctions and embargoes that prevent the country from modernizing its fleet. Tehran also operates other aging aircraft, including Soviet-era Su-24s and MiG-29s and US-made F-5s.
The limitations of its airpower have forced Iran to rely on building a large arsenal of ballistic missiles and attack drones. Tehran was said to have purchased newer Su-35 aircraft from Russia, although it's unclear if any have been delivered.
Israel has struck additional aircraft beyond the two F-14s, including at least one aerial refueling tanker and eight attack helicopters, since beginning a new operation last Friday aimed at degrading Iran's nuclear program, a longtime goal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Over the past week, Israeli fighter jets have carried out widespread airstrikes across Iran, targeting its nuclear facilities, top scientists, senior commanders, missile launchers, air defenses, and other high-profile military infrastructure. The Iranians have responded by launching hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is weighing whether to use US assets to strike Iran's most hardened nuclear sites. Iran has said that it will retaliate if American forces intervene in the conflict.
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Iran, Israel launch new attacks after Tehran rules out nuclear talks
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an hour ago
A woman tried to call her mom in Iran. A robotic voice answered the phone
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- When Ellie, a British-Iranian living in the United Kingdom, tried to call her mother in Tehran, a robotic female voice answered instead. 'Alo? Alo?' the voice said, then asked in English: 'Who is calling?' A few seconds passed. 'I can't heard you,' the voice continued, its English imperfect. 'Who you want to speak with? I'm Alyssia. Do you remember me? I think I don't know who are you.' Ellie, 44, is one of nine Iranians living abroad — including in the U.K and U.S. — who said they have gotten strange, robotic voices when they attempted to call their loved ones in Iran since Israel launched airstrikes on the country a week ago. They told their stories to The Associated Press on the condition they remain anonymous or that only their first names or initials be used out of fear of endangering their families. Five experts with whom the AP shared recordings said it could be low-tech artificial intelligence, a chatbot or a pre-recorded message to which calls from abroad were diverted. It remains unclear who is behind the operation, though four of the experts believed it was likely to be the Iranian government while the fifth saw Israel as more likely. The messages are deeply eerie and disconcerting for Iranians in the diaspora struggling to contact their families as Israel's offensive targeting Iranian nuclear and military sites pounds Tehran and other cities. Iran has retaliated with hundreds of missiles and drones, and the government has imposed a widespread internet blackout it says is to protect the country. That has blocked average Iranians from getting information from the outside world, and their relatives from being able to reach them. 'I don't know why they're doing this,' said Ellie, whose mother is diabetic, low on insulin and trapped on the outskirts of Tehran. She wants her mother to evacuate the city but cannot communicate that to her. A request for comment sent to the Iranian mission to the U.N. was not immediately answered. Most of the voices speak in English, though at least one spoke Farsi. If the caller tries to talk to it, the voice just continues with its message. A 30-year-old women living in New York, who heard the same message Ellie did, called it 'psychological warfare.' 'Calling your mom and expecting to hear her voice and hearing an AI voice is one of the most scary things I've ever experienced,' she said. 'I can feel it in my body.' And the messages can be bizarre. One woman living in the U.K. desperately called her mom and instead got a voice offering platitudes. 'Thank you for taking the time to listen,' it said, in a recording that she shared with the AP. 'Today, I'd like to share some thoughts with you and share a few things that might resonate in our daily lives. Life is full of unexpected surprises, and these surprises can sometimes bring joy while at other times they challenge us.' Not all Iranians abroad encounter the robotic voice. Some said when they try to call family, the phone just rings and rings. Colin Crowell, a former vice president for Twitter's global policy, said it appeared that Iranian phone companies were diverting the calls to a default message system that does not allow calls to be completed. Amir Rashidi, an Iranian cybersecurity expert based in the U.S., agreed and said the recordings appeared to be a government measure to thwart hackers, though there was no hard evidence. He said that in the first two days of Israel's campaign, mass voice and text messages were sent to Iranian phones urging the public to gear up for 'emergency conditions.' They aimed to spread panic — similar to mass calls that government opponents made into Iran during the war with Iraq in the 1980s. The voice messages trying to calm people 'fit the pattern of the Iranian government and how in the past it handled emergency situations,' said Rashidi, the director of Texas-based Miaan, a group that reports on digital rights in the Middle East. Mobile phones and landlines ultimately are overseen by Iran's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology. But the country's intelligence services have long been believed to be monitoring conversations. 'It would be hard for anybody else to hack. Of course, it is possible it is Israeli. But I don't think they have an incentive to do this,' said Mehdi Yahyanejad, a tech entrepreneur and internet freedom activist. Marwa Fatafta, Berlin-based policy and advocacy director for digital rights group Access Now, suggested it could be 'a form of psychological warfare by the Israelis.' She said it fits a past pattern by Israel of using extensive direct messaging to Lebanese and Palestinians during campaigns in Gaza and against Hezbollah. The messages, she said, appear aimed at 'tormenting' already anxious Iranians abroad. When contacted with requests for comment, the Israeli military declined and the prime minister's office did not respond. Ellie is one of a lucky few who found a way to reach relatives since the blackout. She knows someone who lives on the Iran-Turkey border and has two phones — one with a Turkish SIM card and one with an Iranian SIM. He calls Ellie's mother with the Iranian phone — since people inside the country are still able to call one another — and presses it to the Turkish phone, where Ellie's on the line. The two are able to speak. 'The last time we spoke to her, we told her about the AI voice that is answering all her calls,' said Ellie. 'She was shocked. She said her phone hasn't rung at all.' Elon Musk said he has activated his satellite internet provider Starlink in Iran, where a small number of people are believed to have the system, even though it is illegal. Authorities are urging the public to turn in neighbors with the devices as part of an ongoing spy hunt. Others have illegal satellite dishes, granting them access to international news. M., a woman in the U.K., has been trying to reach her mother-in-law, who is immobile and lives in Tehran's northeast, which has been pummeled by Israeli bombardment throughout the week. When she last spoke to her family in Iran, they were mulling whether she should evacuate from the city. Then the blackout was imposed, and they lost contact. Since then she has heard through a relative that the woman was in the ICU with respiratory problems. When she calls, she gets the same bizarre message as the woman in the U.K., a lengthy mantra. 'Close your eyes and picture yourself in a place that brings you peace and happiness,' it says. 'Maybe you are walking through a serene forest, listening to the rustle of leaves and birds chirping. Or you're by the seashore, hearing the calming sound of waves crashing on the sand.' The only feeling the message does instill in her, she said, is 'helplessness.'
