Iran has rebuilt its air defense network, Tehran claims

Senior Iranian military officer acknowledges damage to Islamic Republic’s missile defense network but claims Iran has already replaced destroyed missile batteries.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran has already restored its air defense network, replacing surface-to-air missile batteries knocked out during last month’s war with Israel, a senior Iranian military official claimed over the weekend.

During Israel’s 12-day operation in Iran, dubbed Operation Rising Lion, Israeli warplanes and attack drones caused major damage to Iran’s air defense network, allowing Israeli aircraft to quickly secure total air supremacy over the western half of the country.

Despite Iranian claims during the war, no manned Israeli aircraft were shot down during the air campaign, though several drone aircraft were destroyed.

On Sunday, however, Rear Admiral Mahmoud Mousavi, deputy chief of Iran’s Army for Operations of the Iranian military, claimed that Iran has already replaced the damaged and destroyed surface-to-air missile batteries.

Speaking with Iran’s Defa Press, he acknowledged that Iran’s air defense network sustained damage during last month’s war but downplayed the extent of the damage and emphasized that the lost batteries have already been replaced.

“The Zionist enemy sought to destroy Iran’s defense capabilities, and some of our defense systems were damaged in this war,” Mousavi said. “But with the efforts of my comrades, the damaged systems were replaced and deployed in predetermined locations.”

“We were able to cover the country’s airspace and ensure the security of dear Iran’s airspace by utilizing the existing systems and replacing them with new ones; therefore, the enemy was unable to achieve its goals despite its desperate efforts,” he added.

Mousavi did not specify whether Iran used imported Russian S-300 missile systems – first developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War – or the indigenously produced Bavar-373 to replace its losses during the June war.