By Sanjeev Kumar Patro
Bhubaneswar: The much awaited Israeli retaliatory attack on Iran for the ballistic missile attack it launched on Israel on October 1, finally, took place last night. Is the so-called ‘revenge’ attack a big-bang one or a mere thud?
ISRAEL AIR STRIKE: BIG BANG OR THUD?
A look at the statements coming from Israel indiactes the air strike not qualifying to be one of big bang league. For the hawkish veteran politician, Avigdoe Liberhman, it seems a thud. He is chairman of political party Yisrael Beytenu. Let’s take a look at his post on X.
“We cannot ignore the hard reality and the fact that the Iranians won’t stop here. They’ll continue their efforts to obtain nuclear weapons and they’ll continue to transfer the funds from the sale of oil and gas to Hezbollah, the Houthis, the Shiite militias, and various proxies,” the hawkish veteran politician says in a post on X.
He accused the government of being “once again content with showmanship” and calls for Israel to “act in a way that reflects our strength — rather than just talking about it.”
Liberman said Hezbollah’s drone attack on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea was “further proof that Tehran has no red lines” and called for Israel to target Iran’s “strategic facilities” and “military and political elite.”
The statement by Liberhman implies that many in Isreal wanted the Israel Air Force to strike bang on Iranian's nuclear facilities and oil reserves. But Israel also knows that any strike on such Iranian sensitive assets may escalate Israel-Iran full-fledged war. Therefore, the Benjamin Netanyahu govt responed in a limited way.
DETAILS OF ISRAEL AIR STRIKES ON IRAN
Even as Israel’s prominent hawkish political leader Liberhman termed the Israeli Air Force attack a “showmanship”, a New York Times report stated that Israel had targeted at least 3 Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps missile bases in last night air strikes.
The NYT reported that one of the sites targeted in Israel’s airstrikes was the S-300 air defense of Imam Khomeini International Airport near Tehran. Israeli drones also targeted the secretive Parchin military base on the outskirts of Tehran in this morning’s strikes, the NYT report adds.
In April this year, Israel had targeted Russian-made S-300 air defence system near Iran’s Nantaz nuclear site.
Israeli media has also reported about killing of two Iranian soldiers in the IDF strikes.
WILL IRAN HIT BACK?
Israeli media is agog with Iran hitting back, even as Israel has warned Iran of not escalating. The Israel media has quoted a New York Times report that stated that Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has given orders to prepare for war with Israel and to respond to Israel's retaliation for Iran's massive ballistic missile attack earlier this month with appropriate force.
The NYT report quoting sources said, if the Israeli attacks result in casualties, Iran will respond with as many as 1,000 ballistic missiles against Israel, more than 5 times as many as it launched in early October in what was already the largest ballistic missile attack in history.
IRAN’S OFFICIAL REACTION
Even though Iran cites the word ‘Duty to Defend’ post Israel air strikes targeting 3 military bases in Iran, the country has maintained that the air strikes by Israel as a ‘failed’ one.
As per the official news agency IRNA, “The army of the Islamic Republic of Iran, in defending Iran’s security and protecting the people and Iran’s interests, sacrificed two of its fighters while countering projectiles from the criminal Zionist regime.”
Tasnim news agency, the semi-official Tasnim news agency said, citing sources: “Iran reserves the right to respond to any aggression, and there is no doubt that Israel will face a proportional reaction for any action it takes.”
