— / Israel’s retaliatory strike against Iran: What are the facts?- In the early …

– In the early morning of April 19th, a single fighter jet, likely an F35, took off from an airbase inside Israel.

– The jet made its way into Iraqi airspace, carrying three air-launchable ballistic missiles (ALBM), likely of the ‘ROCKS’ or ‘Silver Sparrow’ type.

– Simultaneously, Israel mobilized one of its proxy groups inside Iran to launch at least three explosive-laden quadcopters at an S-300 radar near the 8th Shekari Airbase in Isfahan, attempting to disable it, in preparation for the upcoming missile strike.

– As the quadcopters approached their intended target, Iranian air defense autocannons engaged them, and successfully downed all three drones.

As for what happened next, there are two main theories:

1. When Israel found out about the failure of the quadcopters to disable the radar, they decided to abort the mission and fire or despose of their missiles above Iraq. Three detached missile boosters were found in Iraqi territory to corroborate this theory.

2. Israel decided to go ahead with the operation, and launched all three ‘ROCKS’ / ‘Silver Sparrow’ missiles at an unknown target in Isfahan, likely the 8th Shekari Airbase. As the missiles approached the Iranian border, they were detected and shot down by Iran’s 15th of Khordad air defense system, based in the city of Dezful. This theory is corroborated by the testimony of at least one trusted source inside Iran.

Why Iran did not respond

Due to the failing nature of the operation, as well as the lack of Israel taking official responsibility, Iran concluded that it had effectively achieved its goal of restoring deterrence, and there was no need for an escalation based on such a limited strike which was meant only to save face, in stark contrast to the massive Iranian missile strike carried out against Israel five days earlier. Iran won an important victory and set a new equation for years to come.

@Middle_East_Spectator