Illustrative image. (The Israeli Defense Forces)
The April 19 Israeli attack on Iran targeted an air defense site near the top-secret Natanz nuclear facility close to the city of Isfahan, several news agencies reported.
The attack came in response to the April 13-14 Iranian missile and drone strikes on Israel, which was a retaliation to an Israeli strike on the Iranian embassy in the Syrian capital, Damascus, at the beginning of the month that claimed the lives of several senior members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iranian media reported the interception of drones over Isfahan air base during the attack, and said that there were no casualties or losses.
Israel didn’t acknowledge the attack, neither was officially blamed for it by Iran. However, officials from the two countries as well as the United States confirmed to several news outlets that the Israeli military was responsible.
Contradicting Iran’s claims, ABC, quoting a U.S. official, reported that the attack included three missiles launched by Israeli Air Force warplanes from outside of Iranian airspace. According to the news network, the strike was “very limited.” It also said that according to an initial assessment, the strike took out the radar site, but the assessment had not yet been completed.
The ABC report did not clarify however if the missiles were used in the attack in addition to the drones earlier reported by Iran.
Another report by The New York Times also said that Israeli warplanes fired the missiles and noted that the new information suggested that the Israel strike “included more advanced firepower than initial reports indicated.”
The newspaper said that it was “not immediately clear the types of missiles used, from where they were fired, whether any were intercepted by Iran’s defenses or where they landed.”
It’s worth noting that the remains of what is believed to be the first stage of a never-seen-before Israeli air-launched, two-stages ballistic missile were found in central Iraq after the attack on Iran. Also during the attack, Israel struck several air defense sites in southern Syria, leading to speculation that Israeli warplanes launched their missiles from some area along the border between Syria, Jorda and Iraq.
Meanwhile, Fox News reported, senior U.S. military sources, that the target of the strike was a military base in Isfahan, and not the not the heavily fortified Natanz nuclear facility.
“The Israelis 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 that Iran’s Russian-made air defense system was proven ineffective.
The targets of the strike included air defense systems at the military base, which is used to protect the nearby nuclear facilities, according to Fox News. .
Israel’s message with the strike was to sell the Iranians on the idea that “we can reach out and touch you,” one of the source said.
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images taken hours after the Israeli attack also showed evidence that the radar site in Isfahan was targeted.
Umbra synthetic aperture radar imagery acquired 0648Z 19APR2024 showed evidence of damage to the Iranian S-300PMU2 strategic surface-to-air missile battery in Isfahan since 15APR2024. A probable damaged 30N6E target engagement radar was visible in imagery still on the radar… pic.twitter.com/eqMFTanPOH
— Chris Biggers (@CSBiggers) April 19, 2024
Despite the reports that the radar site had been destroyed, other SAR satellite images published by CNN did not appear to show any extensive damage to Iran’s Isfahan air base.
“There does not appear to be any large craters in the ground and there are no apparent destroyed buildings,” CNN said, noting that the findings needed to be confirmed by regular satellite pictures that could detect things like burn scars.
#Breaking: According to CNN, satellite images show no significant damage at Isfahan air base. The synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite images were captured around 10:18 a.m. local time#IranAttack #Isfahan #IranRevolution #IranIsraelWar #IraniansStandWithpalestine pic.twitter.com/cHgLfdPG01
— Forsige Breaking News (@ForsigeNews) April 19, 2024
The attack on Isfahan was apparently meant to send a message to Iran that the Israeli military can strike its heavily fortified nuclear facilities.
Iran, which has played down the limited attack, will not likely respond, at least not directly against Israel. Still, tensions between the regional foes will not likely ease as long as Israel continues its war on the Palestinian Gaza Strip.
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