JERUSALEM, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Wednesday said it struck a factory that transferred chemical substances to an Iranian facility designated for developing chemical weapons.
The IDF said in a statement that it struck the factory, owned by the Tofiq Daru Company, on Tuesday. The factory, presenting itself as a civilian business, functions as a main supplier of fentanyl to the Organization of Defense Innovation and Research (SPND), which is responsible for the development of chemical weapons in Iran.
Fentanyl in high doses is considered a highly lethal substance. The Tofiq Daru Company knowingly and systematically supplied the substance to the SPND organization, said the IDF, noting the strike impaired the Iranian government's chemical weapons production capabilities.
Also on Wednesday, the IDF said its air force on Tuesday killed Mahdi Vafaei, a senior engineering officer in the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, in Mahallat of central Iran.
The Israeli military Vafaei led the efforts to establish underground infrastructure sites for Hezbollah and the Assad government in Syria, and managed dozens of underground projects in Lebanon utilized for the storage of advanced weapons.
On Feb. 28, Israel and the United States launched joint strikes on Iran, prompting retaliatory attacks by Iran and its regional allies on U.S. and Israeli interests across the Middle East. ■
