Really???
Laugh at this:Israel used radar-evading missile to hit S-300 defensesnear Natanz nuke site – report
NYT says attack was ‘calibrated’ to show Israel’s capability to dodgeIran’s air defenses, make Tehran ‘think twice’ before another assault; Iran’sFM claims it merely faced ‘toys’
By TOI STAFF and AGENCIES20 April 2024, 5:18 pm
The alleged Israeli strike overnightThursday-Friday on Iranian air defenses near the Natanz nuclear site used a high-tech missile that wasable to evade Iran’s radar systems, in a move “calibrated to make Iran think twice” before launching another direct attack on Israel, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Two unnamed Western officials cited by thenewspaper said the missile aimed to show Tehran that Israel is able to dodgeand neutralize its defenses.
Two Iranianofficials said the strike hit a Russian-made S-300 air defense system. They told the newspaper that Iran had not detected intrusions into itsairspace from drones, missiles or aircraft.
The newspaper said the missile was from a warplanefired “far from Israeli or Iranian airspace.”
The report also said that neither the plane nor themissile entered Jordanian airspace — a calculated move to keep Amman out of anypotential ramifications for the reprisal strike, after it helped shoot downsome of the hundreds of drones and missiles fired by Iran at Israel lastweekend.
Satelliteimagery seen by the Times of Israel showed damage to the radar of an S-300system at the Eighth Shekari Air Base in Isfahan, said to be part of an arraydefending the nearby top-secret Natanz nuclear site. The imagery was not immediately permitted for publication, per the policyof the agency that took the photo.
Additionalsynthetic aperture radar satellite images taken Friday also showed evidencethat the radar site was targeted.
The New York Times said the strike was deliberately designed to send amessage on how a wider attack could look, with Israel able to penetrate Iraniandefenses undetected.
US defense officials also told The New York Times that there was concern the precedent set by the nations’ direct exchanges of blows this week could encourage further rounds of violence in the future.
Other effects could be an Iranian effort to betterprotect its nuclear assets and make them harder to attack, as well a potentialpush to move weaponry closer to Israel in case of another confrontation,experts told the paper.
US media reported Friday that the alleged Israeli strike in Iran went beyond the scope of several small drones described by Tehran. ABC news was the first to report that the air defenses at Isfahan were part of an array defending the nearby top-secret Natanz site.
Citing “senior US military sources,” Fox Newsreported that the target of the strike was a military base in Isfahan, and notthe heavily fortified nuclear facilities themselves, which lie some 100kilometers (62 miles) to the north of the city, largely buried under amountain.
“TheIsraelis hit what they intended to strike,” one of the sources told Fox News,adding that there was one main target that was hit multiple times and thatIran’s Russian-made air defense system was proven ineffective.
