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Iran Update Morning Special Report, March 13, 2026
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) at the American Enterprise Institute are publishing two updates daily to provide analysis on the war with Iran. The morning update will focus on US and Israeli strikes on Iran and Iran and the Axis of Resistance’s response to the strikes. The evening update will be more comprehensive, covering events over the past 24-hour period and refining items discussed in the morning update.
Key Takeaways
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck multiple internal security sites in Khuzestan Province in southwestern Iran overnight on March 12 and 13, including the Khuzestan Province Law Enforcement Command Headquarters, Artesh Ground Forces 292nd Armored Brigade, and an unspecified Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps Ground Forces headquarters.
The US and Israeli combined force has continued to target Iranian air defense systems in order to degrade Iran’s ability to defend against combined force attacks. Bloomberg, citing Israeli assessments, reported on March 12 that US-Israeli strikes have destroyed up to 80 percent of Iran’s air defenses.
The combined force has also continued to target Iranian ballistic missile infrastructure. Two Western assessments on March 12 estimated that combined force strikes have destroyed around 60 percent of Iran’s missile launchers, with one of the assessments estimating that the combined force has degraded up to 80 percent of Iran’s “offensive capability.”
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on March 12 that six US servicemembers died in an incident involving a US KC-135 refueling tanker and another aircraft in “friendly airspace” in western Iraq. CENTCOM noted that the incident was not caused by hostile or friendly fire.
US and Israeli Air Campaign
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck multiple internal security sites in Khuzestan Province in southwestern Iran overnight on March 12 and 13. The IDF struck the Khuzestan Province Law Enforcement Command (LEC) Headquarters in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province.[1] The IDF stated that the LEC coordinated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) at this headquarters. The LEC is Iran’s premier internal security and law enforcement service, and its chief mission is to conduct ordinary police activities and ensure regime stability. The LEC is the regime’s first line of defense against protests. The combined force has struck several other LEC headquarters across Iran since the start of the war, including in Tehran, Ilam, Kermanshah, Kurdistan, and Mazandaran provinces, according to commercially available satellite imagery.
The IDF also struck an “IRGC Ground Forces headquarters” in Ahvaz.[2] Multiple IRGC Ground Forces units are based in Ahvaz, including the Karbala Operational Base.[3] The Karbala Operational Base oversees IRGC Ground Forces units in Khuzestan, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, and Lorestan provinces. The Karbala Operational Base oversees the 1st Hazrat-e Hojjat Independent Armored Brigade, among other units, which is also based in Ahvaz. The IDF also struck the Artesh Ground Forces 292nd Armored Brigade in Dezful, Khuzestan Province.[4] The Artesh Ground Forces have previously played a role in protest suppression. The IDF targeted the 292nd Armored Brigade during the June 2025 Israel-Iran War.[5] The 292nd Armored Brigade operates under the 92nd Armored Division, which the combined force struck in recent days.[6]
The US and Israeli combined force has continued to target Iranian air defense systems in order to degrade Iran’s ability to defend against combined force attacks. An open-source intelligence (OSINT) account geolocated footage that US Central Command (CENTCOM) published on March 11 showing a strike on a surface-to-air missile system in Bandar Imam Khomeini, Khuzestan Province.[7] The combined force also targeted a radar dome in Behshahr, Mazandaran Province, on March 12. [8] Bloomberg, citing Israeli assessments, reported on March 12 that US-Israeli strikes have destroyed up to 80 percent of Iran’s air defenses.[9]
The combined force has also continued to target Iranian ballistic missile infrastructure. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that it struck an underground missile facility in Shiraz, Fars Province, that Iran used to manufacture and store ballistic missiles.[10] The combined force also targeted a missile site in Borazjan, Bushehr Province.[11] These strikes aim to degrade Iran’s ability to produce and launch ballistic missiles. Two Western assessments on March 12 estimated that combined force strikes have destroyed around 60 percent of Iran’s missile launchers, with one of the assessments estimating that the combined force has degraded up to 80 percent of Iran’s “offensive capability.”[12]
The combined force struck the Hajiabad Industrial Zone in Arak, Markazi Province, on March 12.[13] Iran’s industrial zones often contain companies tied to Iran’s defense industrial base and the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics (MODAFL).[14] The Hajiabad Industrial Zone contains the Pegah Aluminum Arak Company, which the United States sanctioned in April 2025 for manufacturing aluminum products for the Iran Centrifuge Technology Company (TESA), which supports Iran’s nuclear program.[15] The Hajiabad Industrial Zone is located near the Arak Air Defense Site and the Law Enforcement Command (LEC)[16]Malek Ashtar Training Center.[17] It is unclear whether the combined force targeted these sites. The IDF also issued an evacuation order on March 12 for the Lia Industrial Zone in Ghazvi Province.[18]
Iranian Retaliation
Iran has continued to attack Israel and the Gulf states. Iran has launched five missile waves at Israel since CTP-ISW’s last data cutoff at 3:00 PM ET on March 12.[19] A missile impacted Zarzir, east of Haifa, wounding dozens of individuals and causing “extensive damage” to nearby homes.[20] Geolocated footage posted on X shows that an Iranian attack damaged the Dubai Financial Center on March 13. The Saudi Defense Ministry announced on March 12 that Saudi Arabia intercepted nine Iranian drones.[21] The Turkish Defense Ministry separately announced on March 13 that NATO air defenses intercepted an Iranian missile that entered Turkish airspace.[22] Data compiled by Bloomberg estimates that Iran has fired more than 2,400 Shahed-136 drones at Israel and other regional countries since the war began, compared to at least 789 ballistic missiles and 39 cruise missiles.[23]
Axis of Resistance Response
US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on March 12 that six US servicemembers died in an incident involving a US KC-135 refueling tanker and another aircraft in “friendly airspace” in western Iraq.[24] CENTCOM noted that the second aircraft landed safely and that the incident was not caused by hostile or friendly fire.[25] The Islamic Resistance of Iraq, which is a coalition of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, falsely claimed on March 12 that it shot down one KC-135 aircraft and forced a second KC-135 aircraft to land at an “enemy airport.”[26]
Hezbollah has claimed 18 rocket, drone, and missile attacks targeting IDF forces and positions in northern Israel and southern Lebanon, as well as Israeli towns in northern Israel, since CTP-ISW’s last data cutoff at 3:00 PM ET on March 12.[27] Hezbollah claimed six rocket attacks targeting IDF positions in northern Israel, a missile attack targeting a base in northern Israel, and two drone attacks targeting IDF barracks in northern Israel.[28] Hezbollah claimed that it conducted five attacks, including one drone attack and four rocket attacks, targeting civilian areas in northern Israel.[29] A Hezbollah rocket impacted in Kabri, lightly injuring two people.[30] Hezbollah also claimed four rocket attacks, as well as one combined mortar and rocket attack, targeting IDF forces and positions in southern Lebanon on March 12.[31] CTP-ISW will cover Israel’s strikes in Lebanon, including in Beirut, as well as the IDF’s ground operations in Lebanon, in its March 13 evening update.
Endnotes
[1] https://x.com/idfonline/status/2032359784830116131 [2] https://x.com/idfonline/status/2032359784830116131 [3] https://www.criticalthreats.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/20200121-Report-Iran%E2%80%99s-Reserve-of-Last-Resort.pdf [4] https://x.com/IranIntl/status/2032381418077139321?s=20 ; https://x.com/acceladealer/status/2032426086429037021 [5] https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/order-of-battle-of-the-iranian-artesh-ground-forces [6] https://understandingwar.org/research/middle-east/iran-update-evening-special-report-march-8-2026/ https://understandingwar.org/research/middle-east/iran-update-morning-special-report-march-12-2026/
[7] https://x.com/mhmiranusa/status/2032172702098681905?s=20 [8] https://x.com/hey_itsmyturn/status/2032425716923404627?s=20 ;
[9] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-12/iran-s-missile-launcher-arsenal-holds-steady-despite-strikes [10] https://x.com/idfonline/status/2032359784830116131?s=20 ; https://x.com/fab_hinz/status/2032375294447808992?s=20 [11] https://x.com/IranIntl/status/2032399328765960621?s=20 ; https://x.com/TehrantoNews/status/2032164501303316500?s=20 [12] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-12/iran-s-missile-launcher-arsenal-holds-steady-despite-strikes [13] https://x.com/IranIntl/status/2032424431750877545?s=20 [14] https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/iran-update-evening-special-report-march-5-2026 ; https://www.criticalthreats.org/analysis/iran-update-evening-special-report-march-6-2026 ; https://understandingwar.org/research/middle-east/iran-update-morning-special-report-march-12-2026/
[15] https://www.iranwatch.org/iranian-entities/pegah-aluminum-arak-company ; https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0077 [16] https://maps.app.goo.gl/MmrtMa1Ydzk84oPg8 ; https://maps.app.goo.gl/N15cu9xJMTUwMcMZ8 [17] https://maps.app.goo.gl/GaTSAzzWSNSS2zKw9 ; https://maps.app.goo.gl/AMpXemxD6LpSGYU88 [18] https://x.com/IDFFarsi/status/2032361751212184020?s=20 [19] https://x.com/idfonline/status/2032179692208304280 ; https://x.com/idfonline/status/2032242194052997201 ; https://x.com/idfonline/status/2032249940383019079 ; https://x.com/idfonline/status/2032336057950199894 ; https://x.com/idfonline/status/2032418378778886644 [20] https://x.com/manniefabian/status/2032296316173226388 [21] https://x.com/no_itsmyturn/status/2032238081152057760?s=20 [22] https://x.com/FaytuksNetwork/status/2032396663235461336?s=20 [23] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-12/iran-s-missile-launcher-arsenal-holds-steady-despite-strikes?srnd=homepage-europe [24] https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2032460946770202725 ; https://x.com/JoeTruzman/status/2032211709478502626 [25] https://x.com/CENTCOM/status/2032460946770202725 ; https://x.com/JoeTruzman/status/2032211709478502626 [26] https://t.me/ElamAlmoqawama/1575 ; https://t.me/ElamAlmoqawama/1577 [27] https://t.me/mmirleb/10906 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10915 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10918 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10944 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10947 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10958 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10918 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10912 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10952 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10955 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10961 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10964 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10909 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10932 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10935 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10938 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10941 [28] https://t.me/mmirleb/10906 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10912 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10915 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10918 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10944 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10947 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10958 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10918 [29] https://t.me/mmirleb/10912 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10952 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10955 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10961 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10964 [30] https://x.com/manniefabian/status/2032418330175234104 ; https://x.com/manniefabian/status/2032412262367940795 [31] https://t.me/mmirleb/10909 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10932 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10935 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10938 ; https://t.me/mmirleb/10941
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