JERUSALEM – Just over a week ago, some residents of Iran’s central province of Isfahan – home to the Islamic Republic’s nuclear weapons and missile production center – cheered Iranian rockets fired at Israel.
Early Friday morning, Isfahan officials were Shock from Israeli attacks The cities of Isfahan and Tabriz activated their air defense systems after three explosions occurred near an important military airport near Isfahan. It is unclear how much damage the Israeli attacks caused. The Iranian regime did not report any casualties.
Potkin Azarmehr, a British-Iranian expert on Iran, told Fox News Digital, “What my sources are saying is that there is no damage to the airbase, but Israel has proven that it can block Iran’s air defenses. And bypass it to the extent that they did.” “We can’t even manage to raise the alarm despite Isfahan being in the middle of Iranian territory.”
He further stated that “Isfahan is the center of Iran’s air defense. If they could not detect the attack, serious questions must be asked about the reliability of Iran’s air defense.”
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Eyewitness footage shows the moment of an explosion at a military industries factory in Isfahan, Iran, on January 29, 2023, in this still image obtained from a video. Pool via WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters. (Pool via Wana (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters)
Azarmehr said, “When Pakistani Air Force retaliated “After Iran’s missile attack, there was no air defense.”
Isfahan is the highest priority attack location for Israeli forces, as the area is one of its central features. regime’s illegal nuclear weapons Program. It is here that the powerful Shahab medium-range missiles are made. Isfahan was the test site for the country’s missile system in late October, which last week proved capable of reaching Israel.
Israeli attacks against Iran’s regime are usually shrouded in obscurity to avoid any fingerprints on the missions and leave Tehran’s rulers guessing.
In January, 2023, Israeli drone strikes reportedly targeted an arms factory inside Isfahan. It is said that last year the drone attack was carried out by Israel’s foreign intelligence service Mossad.
jerusalem post Friday’s response was to be measured as “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” the report said. Israel retaliated where they were attacked.
Iranian pro-government supporters hold a huge Palestinian flag in Palestine Square in Tehran in celebration of Iran’s early morning IRGC attack on Israel on April 14, 2024. Iran fired more than 100 drones and ballistic missiles in response to an attack on a building attached to the country’s consulate in Damascus on Saturday, April 14, 2024, which killed seven members of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force Went. 1 April 2024. Iran has held Israel responsible for the attack in Tehran on 5 April 2024. (Photo by Hossein Barris/Middle East Images/Middle East Images via AFP)
Isfahan is also a center of anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. In the April al-Quds Day demonstration, the last Friday of Ramadan, Iran promoted the destruction of Israel. The Imam of Isfahan, Ayatollah Youssef Tabatabinejad, declared, “It is our obligation to support the oppressed Muslims, and we hope that, with Divine Providence in this path of resistance, we will be able to wipe out the Zionist regime.” The face of the earth.”
In 2016, the Islamic Association of Isfahan University announced a cartoon contest aimed at mocking and denying the genocide.
Sheena Vojoudi, associate fellow at the Gold Institute for International Strategy, told Fox News Digital that “Isfahan has great strategic importance in Iran. There are military and nuclear bases in Isfahan, and it shows how focused the regime is on this city and on Israel. The rockets that were fired were also fired from a base in Isfahan.”
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows Iran’s nuclear site in Isfahan, Iran, on April 4, 2024. Iran fired air defenses at a major airport and a nuclear site near the central city of Isfahan on Friday morning after sighting drones that were suspected to be part of an Israeli attack in retaliation for Tehran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack on the country. Is. ((Planet Labs PBC via AP))
Vojoudi, an Iranian dissident who opposes the government of the Islamic Republic, said that “the attack on Isfahan means that this city is one of the main points where the regime can pose a threat to Israel and certainly to the Iranian people because of Iran’s The intense activities of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps have almost ruined the lives of the people of Isfahan and have increased the cancer rate in Isfahan.”
An Iranian long-range Ghadar missile displaying “Down with Israel” in Hebrew is photographed at a defense exhibition in the city of Isfahan in central Iran on February 8, 2023. (Photo by Morteza Salehi/Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo by Morteza Salehi/Tasnim News/AFP via Getty Images)
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While the US and allies appear satisfied with Israel’s response, other experts say an opportunity has been wasted.
“This is a missed opportunity. Israel needed to impose serious costs on Iran to restore deterrence. I worry that this pin-prick retaliation will teach Iran to get away with carrying out large-scale attacks on U.S. partners without serious consequences. Can be saved.” said Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security and the council’s director of studies.
