Israeli strike inside Iran was more extensive than initially reported

Israel’s strike against Iran was more extensive than the few drone strikes reported by Iranian state media on Friday.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

In its first attack directly against Iran on Friday, Israel used missiles that evaded Iran’s radar detection and damaged an S-300 system in an air base at Isfahan, according to the New York Times.

According to Western officials, Israel intended to send a message to Iran that it can bypass its defense systems and strike undetected.

Israel’s attack was also a retaliation for Iran’s launching 350 missiles and drones into Israel overnight last Saturday, 99.2% of which were intercepted by Israeli, U.S., Jordanian, and U.K. militaries.

Two Iranian officials confirmed that the S-300 antiaircraft system was hit in Isfahan and admitted that the intrusions on their airspace were not detected.

The Times of Israel reported that satellite imagery showed damage to the radar of an S-300 system at the Eighth Shekari Air Base in Isfahan, which forms part of the defense of the top-secret Natanz nuclear site.

According to a U.S. media report, Israel’s strike against Iran was more extensive than the few drones reported by Iranian state media.

“The Israelis hit what they intended to strike,” one of the sources told Fox News, adding that the intention was to strike the Russian-made air defense system, which was hit several times and rendered ineffective.

However, Israel has yet to formally acknowledge and claim responsibility for the strike.

As in many cases involving airstrikes at Iranian targets, and also with the first Israeli strike directly on Iranian soil, Israel avoids claiming responsibility to allow “plausible deniability” to Iran so it doesn’t have to make good on threats to attack Israel if provoked.

So far, Iran has minimized the strike, with the Foreign Minister comparing it to child’s play.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Amir-Abdollahian told NBC News, “What happened last night was no attack.”

“It was the flight of two or three quad-copters, which are at the level of toys that our children use in Iran,” he said.