An Iranian civilian aircraft scheduled to pick up humanitarian and medical supplies from New Delhi was reportedly damaged in a US airstrike at Mashhad International Airport, Iranian state media and officials said on Sunday, dramatically escalating tensions in an already volatile West Asia theatre. Iran has condemned the strike as a “war crime,” accusing the US of deliberately targeting a relief mission linked to India.

According to Iranian sources, the affected aircraft is operated by Mahan Air and had been earmarked for a special mission to fly to India to collect medicines and other medical supplies destined for Iranian hospitals and aid agencies. At the time of the strike, the plane was reportedly parked at Mashhad airport and had not yet taken off, raising questions about the identification of targets in the area.

Iran’s judiciary chief, Gholam‑Hossein Mohseni‑Ejei, directly blamed the US for the attack, describing it as a “crime against humanity” and insisting that the jet was preparing for a purely humanitarian, India‑linked mission. Iranian lawmakers have echoed this line, saying the strike crossed legal and moral boundaries by hitting infrastructure connected to civilian relief efforts.

India has not yet issued a detailed public statement addressing the specific damage to the Iranian aircraft, but New Delhi has already dispatched at least one consignment of medical aid to Iran through the Iranian Red Crescent Society, underscoring the ongoing humanitarian cooperation between the two countries. Analysts say the incident could force India to publicly demand clearer assurances on the safety of civilian and aid‑linked flights operating in the region, especially as US and Israeli strikes intensify inside Iranian territory.

The Mashhad incident comes one day after the United States reportedly carried out a precision airstrike on an ammunition depot outside the city of Isfahan, using heavy “bunker‑buster” bombs capable of penetrating hardened facilities. Satellite imagery and local video circulating online show a sequence of large explosions consistent with secondary detonations of stored munitions, which sources say are usually linked to Iranian rocket and missile stockpiles.

President Donald Trump has publicly shared footage of the blast on his social‑media platform, using the imagery to frame the operation as a targeted move to degrade Iran’s military logistics rather than an attack on civilians. However, experts caution that even when strikes hit ostensibly military storage sites, the risk of collateral damage and the blurring of military‑civilian infrastructure can complicate the legal and diplomatic narrative.

The twin episodes—from a US‑linked strike on an India‑bound aid plane to bunker‑buster bombs hitting an Isfahan‑area depot—highlight how the conflict over Iran’s regional posture is rapidly spilling into airspace, airports, and logistics hubs. For Gulf states, Israel, and non‑state actors alike, the message is that supply chains and rear‑area storage nodes are now potential targets, raising the risk of further escalation if strikes continue to hit civilian‑linked or dual‑use infrastructure.

The unfolding events underscore the difficulty of staying neutral while simultaneously engaging in humanitarian outreach to Iran. The damaged aircraft at Mashhad may become a focal point of diplomatic friction, forcing New Delhi to navigate a delicate balance between protecting its regional partnerships and avoiding direct entanglement in a US–Iran shadow war that is now being broadcast, bunker‑buster‑by‑bunker‑buster, on social media.