Israel’s attack on Iran shows a ruthless combination of air power and intelligence – In the conflict, there are big differences between the two countries, which could be long if the goal is to eliminate Tehran’s nuclear energy.
The Israeli Air Force began its air strikes at 3 a.m. Friday, direct introduction, first on Iranian military leaders and Tehran’s intelligence, then turned to air defense batteries, missile launch sites, and most importantly, key facilities on the North Lan’s Island could be rich in weapon-grade.
Related: Israeli strikes strike more than 100 targets, including nuclear facilities in Iran
The initial goal appears to be to defeat the Iranian military command chain, with the killing of General Hossein Salami, chief of staff of the Iranian army, along with other senior members.
Burcu Ozcelik, a researcher at the Royal Joint Services Institute (RUSI), said the huge scale of the attack “risks the strategic landscape of the Middle East targeting his military leadership and nuclear infrastructure.”
“The great depth and precision of the strike – entering the heart of Tehran, eliminating key figures like Salami – emphasizes the extent of Israel’s intellectual infiltration and the degradation of Iran’s air defense system. For Tehran, this is not only a tactical loss, but a profound strategic humiliation,” she added.
The direct question is how much damage was caused in Natanz, where Iran carried out most of the nuclear enrichment, which is believed to be 8 meters underground, and is largely protected by reinforced concrete and hard rock. The video shows black feathers appearing from the scene area, but the damage cannot be assessed.
Iran said the site of Natanz has been attacked but no casualties, and the International Atomic Energy Agency said it is still assessing the losses, according to the semi-official MEHR news agency. Meanwhile, Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said the bombing hit underground areas and related critical infrastructure. “We have caused significant damage to the site,” he added.
Meanwhile, Israel’s external security service Mosad claims it has carried out a mixture of commando attacks, equipped with granular hot videotapes and a strike on Ukraine, a style of attacks on Russian air bases in a recent attack style – targeting Iranian air defense systems, including at Isfejabad air-based hollow bases, including Iranian air defense systems.
Some of the Mossad claims may be propaganda, but the military reality is that so far there are no signs of effective Iranian air defense or any Israeli Air Force casualties. Israel appears to have an almost complete air advantage, allowing it to continue bombing Friday and launch a new attack on Tabriz.
Israel said Iran’s initial response was to launch more than 100 drones on its attackers, all of which were shot down at noon in the morning. However, the drone is moving slowly, and it takes up to seven hours to travel around 700 miles between the two countries – it will require a bigger wave before even a few hit the ground.
Tehran does have other military options. The most immediate danger is a store of up to 3,000 high-speed ballistic missiles, using about 180 in the last attack on Israel in October 2024. About two dozen or so attacked Nivatim and Tel NOF air bases (think nuclear weapons were considered to be considered stored), and in Israel and near locations, the damage of damage was relatively damaged, but the damage of damage was relatively imitated.
Initial reports suggest that Kermanshah, western Iran, is home to the ballistic missile launch site buried inside the canyon. It is well known that it is difficult to successfully destroy or ban underground sites, and real impact will only occur if Iran launches a missile counterattack.
The alternative possibility could be a cyber or terrorist attack, and although on a political level, even if the same retaliatory response could be achieved, their strike on the U.S. target is risky to Tehran, leaving all possibilities in the U.S. with all firepower, and all this brings war.
But the option of not being on the table is to rely on traditional regional agents. On Friday, Lebanon’s Hezbollah canceled its leader in a two-month war with Israel last fall, saying he “will not launch its own attack on Israel” to support Iran. Houthis, Yemen, was attacked by Israel on Tuesday, with a distance of more than 1,000 miles, with only the ability to conduct occasional ballistic missile attacks.
Israel’s complications are that Iran has been preparing for a long time and its nuclear facilities have been fully defended. Until Friday afternoon, Israel did not attempt to attack the second enrichment facility in Fodo, buried 80-90 meters underground, exceeding the capabilities of Israel’s most powerful known missiles, which are the 1.8-Tonne Rocks Rocks and 1.6-in-tonne Rocks and 1.6–1.6–1.6—1.6——————————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Successfully attacking Nantaz, according to an analysis from Rusi, “would likely require several impacts into the same crater to ‘burrow’ down to the facility and get a weapon through to exploit within it successfully” – while the destruction of Fordow is only considered feasible with the US GBU 57/B “bunker buster” bomb which, because it weighs nearly 14 tonnes and is 6 metres long, can only be launched from US B-2 bombers.
This strong goal, combined with Israel’s air superiority and extraordinary confidence, shows an expansion of Iran’s military movement – according to some reports – and a tense and uncertain international period, without Iran’s surrender, there may be no obvious end.
