IDF strikes Iranian regime targets in Nur, northern Iran — campaign expands beyond Tehran

The IDF announced on Day 21 (Friday, March 20) that it had launched a wave of airstrikes against Iranian regime sites in the city of Nur, which lies northeast of Tehran in northern Iran (Mazandaran Province). No further details on specific targets were immediately provided. The Nur strikes represent a geographic expansion of the Israeli air campaign. Previous strikes have concentrated heavily on Tehran and its immediate surroundings (regime infrastructure, IRGC facilities, intelligence ministry buildings, communications nodes), as well as nuclear and missile sites at Natanz, Fordow, and Parchin. Extending the campaign to Nur in northern Iran — near the Caspian coast — suggests the IDF is reaching IRGC facilities, air defense assets, or regime infrastructure dispersed into the northern provinces. IDF Chief of Staff Zamir stated on Day 20 that Israel is 'not even halfway' through the Iran campaign. Netanyahu's ground component comment and the expanding geographic footprint of strikes suggest the air campaign is deliberately expanding before any potential ground phase.