Israel Strikes Back at Iran

Twenty five days after Iran launched its second direct ballistic missile attack on Israel, the Israelis have hit back with what they describe as “precise strikes on military targets in Iran, thwarting immediate threats to the State of Israel.”

In an early report on BBC News, Behnam Ben Taleblu of the Foundation for the Defence of Democracies said that very different reports were emerging from Iranian media compared to what was being seen on social media.

Semi-official Iranian media have reported some explosions but along with official regime outlets they are trying to portray an image of calm, in stark contrast to the image reported on social media and other unofficial media outlets.

That early view is supported by a report from France 24 News saying that an Iranian official claimed limited damage has occurred to the military sites that the IDF targeted and that the IRGC-affiliated media claimed the attack was “very weak and it did not incur significant or substantial damages to the Iranian infrastructure.”

However, the reporter described three waves of Israeli attacks, starting at 2:13am and hitting targets in the west of Tehran, Karaage (a city nearly 40 kilometres to the west of Tehran), and in the eastern part of Tehran; as well as the city of Andimeshk in Khuzestan province.

More detail will emerge in the coming hours, as the world waits to assess the damage and whether the Iranian regime will retaliate again.

In focusing on military targets, rather than political or economic, the Israelis have chosen the least controversial form of strike.

UPDATE 8:30pm

Although details are still limited, it seems that more than 100 Israeli aircraft were used in the three waves of attacks and that they focused upon air defence systems in Syria and Iraq as well as Iran, including radar stations and anti-aircraft missile systems.

They are also reported to have attacked weapons manufacturing facilities used in the production of Iran’s ballistic missiles and drones. Some observers think Israel should have hit Iran harder but it is thought this attack has left Iran more vulnerable to future attacks.

This special report from Joel Rosenberg of All Israel News.