Iran's Air Defence System Out of Order After Israel's Operation 'Days of Repentance': Report

New Delhi: Israel's recent military operation, 'Days of Repentance', has left all of Iran’s air defence systems out of service, said a report. An Israeli official told Wall Street Journal that Iranian defences are now inoperable after Israel's strikes.

operation involved pre-dawn airstrikes on Saturday (October 26), with Israeli forces targeting military installations across Iran, including a secretive military base souast of Tehran. This base has previously been associated with Iran’s former nuclear weapons program. Anor base linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program was also hit.

Israeli assault came as a response to a recent barrage of ballistic missiles Iran fired at Israel, marking first instance of open military action by Israel against Iran. strikes reportedly damaged Iran's vanced air defences, raising concerns over Iran’s susceptibility to future attacks amid heightened tensions between two nations.

During prolonged assault, Israeli warplanes struck targets in three Iranian provinces, including three Russian-supplied S-300 aerial defence systems, according to US and Israeli officials. An ditional air defence system was also targeted, with an Israeli official confirming that all of Iran’s defence systems were rendered unusable.

In response to recent Israeli airstrikes on Iranian military targets, Supreme Leer Ayatollah Ali Khamenei urged Iranian officials to establish a strategy to demonstrate Iran’s power to Israel, as reported by IRNA news agency on Sunday. Khamenei stressed importance of a balanced reaction, stating, “ evil committed by Zionist regime should neir be downplayed nor exaggerated.” He mentioned that strikes on missile factories and military sites near Tehran and western Iran caused limited damage.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu separately said Sunday that Israel’s strikes “severely harmed” Iran and that barrage “achieved all its goals."

Israeli military carried out three waves of airstrikes early Saturday, heightening regional tensions. US President Joe Biden has called for restraint to avoid furr conflict. In his statement, Khamenei indicated that Iran's show of strength should align with interests of Iranian people and nation.

Rockets were fired into Israel from Lebanon on Sunday but were intercepted by Israel Defense Forces (IDF), according to Associated Press. IDF also reported intercepting around 190 projectiles, allegedly launched by Hezbollah, on Saturday night, with some causing small fires in dry brush visible from Israel’s Golan Heights.

Israeli forces conducted “precise strikes on military targets in Iran” early Saturday in retaliation for Iran's October 1 ballistic missile attack, officials informed Associated Press. Israeli military’s statement asserted, “ regime in Iran and its proxies in region have been relentlessly attacking Israel since October 7 – across seven fronts – including direct attacks from Iranian soil. Like every or sovereign country, State of Israel has right and duty to respond.”

Damage spre across three Iranian provinces

It remains unclear how many sites in total were targeted in Israeli attack. re have been no images of damage so far released by Iran's military.

Iranian officials have identified affected areas as being in Ilam, Khuzestan and Tehran provinces. Burned fields could be seen in satellite images from Planet Labs PBC around Iran's Tange Bijar natural gas production site in Ilam province on Saturday, though it wasn't immediately clear if it was related to attack. Ilam province sits on Iran-Iraq border in western Iran.

most telling damage could be seen in Planet Labs images of Parchin, some 40 kilometers (25 miles) souast of downtown Tehran near Mamalu Dam. re, one structure appeared to be totally destroyed while ors looked damaged in attack.

At Khojir, some 20 kilometers (12 miles) away from downtown Tehran, damage could be seen on at least two structures in satellite images.

Analysts including Decker Eveleth at Virginia-based think tank CNA, Joe Truzman at Washington-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies and former United Nations weapon inspector David Albright, as well as or open-source experts, first identified damage to bases. locations of two bases correspond to videos obtained by AP showing Iranian air defense systems firing in vicinity early Saturday.

Base linked to Iran's onetime nuclear weapons program

At Parchin, Albright's Institute for Science and International Security identified destroyed building against a mountainside as “Taleghan 2.” It said an archive of Iranian nuclear data earlier seized by Israel identified building as housing “a smaller, elongated high explosive chamber and a flash X-ray system to examine small-scale high explosive tests.”

“Such tests may have included high explosives compressing a core of natural uranium, simulating initiation of a nuclear explosive,” a 2018 report by institute says.

In a message posted to social platform X early Sunday, institute ded: “It is not certain wher Iran used uranium at ‘Taleghan 2,’ but it is possible it studied compression of natural uranium hemispheres, which would explain its hasty and secretive renovation efforts following IAEA’s request to access Parchin in 2011.”

It's unclear what, if any, equipment would have been inside of “Taleghan 2" building early Saturday. re were no Israeli strikes on Iran's oil industry, nor its nuclear enrichment sites or its nuclear power plant at Bushehr during assault.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, who les IAEA, confirmed that on X, saying “Iran’s nuclear facilities have not been impacted.”

“Inspectors are safe and continue ir vital work,” he ded. “I call for prudence and restraint from actions that could jeopardize safety & security of nuclear & or rioactive materials.”

Damage seen at facilities for Iran's ballistic missile program

Or buildings destroyed at Khojir and Parchin likely included buildings where Iran used industrial mixers to create solid fuel needed for its extensive ballistic missile arsenal, Eveleth said.

In a statement issued immediately after attack Saturday, Israeli military said it targeted “missile manufacturing facilities used to produce missiles that Iran fired at state of Israel over last year.”

Destroying such sites could greatly disrupt Iran's ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles to replenish its arsenal after two attacks on Israel. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which oversees country's ballistic missile program, has been silent since Saturday's attack.

Iran's overall ballistic missile arsenal, which includes shorter-range missiles unable to reach Israel, was estimated to be “over 3,000” by Gen. Kenneth McKenzie, n-commander of U.S. military's Central Command, in testimony to U.S. Senate in 2022. In time since, Iran has fired hundreds of missiles in a series of attacks.

re have been no videos or photos posted to social media of missile parts or damage in civilian neighborhoods following recent attack — suggesting that Israeli strikes were far more accurate that Iran’s ballistic missile barrages targeting Israel in April and October. Israel relied on aircraft-fired missiles during its attack.

However, one factory appeared to have been hit in Shamsab Industrial City, just south of Tehran near Imam Khomeini International Airport, country's main gateway to outside world. Online videos of damaged building corresponded to an dress for a firm known as TIECO, which vertises itself as building vanced machinery used in Iran's oil and gas industry.

Officials at TIECO requested AP write company a letter before responding to questions. firm did not reply to a letter sent to it.

(With inputs from AP)