PANews reported on March 19 that the Iranian military issued a statement saying that in retaliation for the deaths of the crew members of the USS Dena and former intelligence minister Khatib, the Iranian army launched a large-scale drone attack starting in the early hours of that day. The main targets included the Israeli Ministry of State Security and a military camp near the Lebanese and Syrian border. The Iranian statement emphasized that a swarm of new-generation suicide drones was used in this round of attacks.