IRGC Destroys Three US GBU-57 Bunker-Buster Bombs in Iran’s Zanjan Province

The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says its specialized forces have destroyed three American GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) and defused another left behind during the recent “illegal war of aggression” in Iran’s Zanjan Province.

“In a statement, the IRGC Public Relations Office in Zanjan province outlined part of the operations carried out by specialized clearance and disposal units to detect and neutralize unexploded ordnance left behind from the US-Israeli war of aggression during a lull in battlefield activity”

Mehr News Agency

In a statement carried by PressTV, the IRGC public relations department in the province said the air-launched, precision-guided bunker-buster bombs were discovered during operations aimed at neutralizing unexploded ammunition “during the ongoing ceasefire in the US-Israeli military assault against Iran.”

Mehr News Agency

PressTV described the GBU-57 MOP as “the world’s largest non-nuclear bomb,” adding that it is a “30,000-pound weapon designed to destroy deeply buried, hardened facilities.”

The IRGC statement also said its Zanjan operations included “the discovery and destruction of three GBU-57 bunker-buster missiles as well as the discovery and neutralization of another one, which was safely delivered to the appropriate centers.”

Mehr News Agency and تسنیم both echoed the same Zanjan clearance effort, describing specialized clearance and disposal units detecting and neutralizing unexploded ordnance left behind “during a lull in battlefield activity.”

Mehr News Agency said more than 9,500 bomblets were discovered and neutralized, and it tied the bomblets to aerial mine-laying using cluster bombs during aerial bombardments by “hostile fighter jets.”

Beyond the bunker-buster claims, the IRGC statement described a wider sweep of unexploded munitions in Zanjan, including bomblets and multiple categories of rockets and missiles.

PressTV said the IRGC forces “discovered and neutralized more than 9,500 bomblets that were dropped by hostile fighter jets in order to contaminate critical sites across the province.”

PressTV

Mehr News Agency similarly reported that the bomblets had been “dropped during aerial bombardments by hostile fighter jets” as part of efforts to contaminate locations in the province through “aerial mine-laying using cluster bombs.”

The statement also said the IRGC found rockets and missiles fired from F15, F-16, and F-35 fighter jets that “did not function,” and Mehr News Agency added that the specific rockets and missiles were identified as LB65, LB84, LB85, and LB86.

Mehr News Agency reported that “52 rockets were discovered and destroyed,” while it said “more than 10 missiles were located, defused, and handed over to relevant authorities for further use.”

تسنیم repeated the same structure, stating that various types of rockets and missiles identified as LB65, LB84, LB85, and LB86 “had also been found and neutralized after failing to detonate upon impact with sensitive sites or agricultural lands.”

The IRGC statement as presented by تسنیم added details about cruise missiles and their weights, extending the account of what clearance teams recovered in Zanjan Province.

“In a statement, the IRGC public relations office in Zanjan Province outlined part of the operations carried out by specialized clearance and disposal units to detect and neutralize unexploded ordnance left behind from the US-Israeli war of aggression during a lull in battlefield activity”

تسنیم

تسنیم said the IRGC reported the discovery and destruction of three GBU-57 bunker-buster bombs “weighing 2,000 pounds,” as well as the recovery and neutralization of “another intact bomb of the same type.”

It also described the discovery and neutralization of “a long-range cruise missile weighing 500 pounds and a GB-39 cruise missile,” and it said these were “launched by advanced US and Israeli fighter jets and intercepted and destroyed by air defenses over Zanjan Province in northern Iran.”

PressTV, by contrast, described the cruise-missile element differently, saying the statement announced “the discovery of two cruise missiles, including a GBU-39 type, that were previously intercepted and shot down by the provincial air defense systems.”

Mehr News Agency’s version focused on bomblets and rockets and missiles, but it still framed the clearance as detecting and neutralizing unexploded ordnance left behind from the US-Israeli war of aggression during a lull in battlefield activity.

Across the three outlets, the IRGC narrative places the operations in Zanjan Province and ties them to ordnance left behind from the conflict.

PressTV’s account places the Zanjan clearance within a broader timeline of the US-Israeli assault on Iran and subsequent ceasefire steps.

PressTV said the “unprovoked US-Israeli aggression on Iran began on February 28 with airstrikes that assassinated senior Iranian officials and commanders.”

Mehr News Agency

It then claimed that “The Iranian armed forces unleashed 100 waves of successful retaliatory strikes against sensitive and strategic American and Israeli targets throughout the region.”

PressTV said that “On April 8, forty days into the war, a Pakistan-brokered two-week ceasefire went into effect,” and it added that “the first round of Tehran-Washington negotiations failed to reach an agreement.”

The outlet also said “US President Donald Trump unilaterally extended the truce,” stating that “his administration will wait for an Iranian proposal for a second round of talks in Islamabad.”

PressTV further said “Tehran has refrained from committing to a second round of negotiations,” citing “Washington’s excessive demands and “naval blockade” of Iran as two main impediments to concluding the war.”

The sources frame the Zanjan operation as part of ongoing efforts to neutralize unexploded ordnance and to deliver recovered munitions to “appropriate centers” or “relevant authorities.”

“The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) says its specialized forces have managed to destroy three American GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) and defuse another left behind the recent illegal war of aggression in Iran’s Zanjan Province”

PressTV

PressTV said the IRGC statement reported that the “discovery and neutralization of another one, which was safely delivered to the appropriate centers,” and it also said that “10 more were delivered to the relevant centers and authorities for necessary measures.”

PressTV

Mehr News Agency similarly reported that “more than 10 missiles were located, defused, and handed over to relevant authorities for further use,” and it described the clearance units as detecting and neutralizing unexploded ordnance left behind during a lull in battlefield activity.

تسنیم added that the IRGC reported the recovery and neutralization of “another intact bomb of the same type,” and it described cruise missiles as having been intercepted and destroyed by air defenses before the clearance teams handled them.

PressTV’s narrative also ties the clearance to the ceasefire period, describing the operations as taking place “during the ongoing ceasefire in the US-Israeli military assault against Iran.”

While the sources do not lay out a specific next operational date, they do present the immediate consequence as the removal of unexploded munitions—bomblets, rockets, missiles, and cruise missiles—from Zanjan Province.