Satellite image shows ‘Israeli missile’ destruction at Iranian base near nuke site: report
Satellite images of the Iranian air base struck by alleged Israeli forces last week appear to show extensive damage to a radar system unit near one of Tehran’s secret nuclear sites, according to a local outlet.
Iran International, an opposition news outlet, posted images Sunday that appear to show the charred remains of an anti-aircraft mobile radar station that once stood at the Eighth Shekari airbase, which is tasked with protecting the Natanz nuke site, in Isfahan.
The airbase, which holds an array of S-300 mobile anti-aircraft missile launchers, was hit Friday apparently as part of Israel’s retaliatory strike against Iran after the Islamic Republic attacked the Jewish country a week earlier.
Iran’s state media attributed the attack to “infiltrators” rather than naming Israel directly, with the Jewish state remaining silent about the strike.
The strike was allegedly carried out with stealth technology that managed to avoid Tehran’s radar detection systems — and was meant to send a message to the Islamic Republic against any future direct attacks on the Jewish state, Western officials told the New York Times.
The attack involved drones and at least one missile, none of which were detected entering Iran’s airspace, Western and Iranian officials told the Times.
Tehran had initially dismissed the attack, claiming the explosions were merely small and a result of its own air-defense system taking out three drones near the airbase.
The stealth element of the latest strike will likely spur Iran to bolster protections for its nuclear program by driving its facilities further underground or moving its weapons closer to the Jewish state in case of future conflicts, officials told the Times.
A day before the attack, Ahmad Haghtalab, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander in charge of nuclear security, suggested Tehran’s nuclear program could be used in the escalating conflict against Israel should the Jewish state target Tehran’s nuclear facilities.
“If the Zionist regime wants to take action against our nuclear centers and facilities, we will surely and categorically reciprocate with advanced missiles against their own nuclear sites,” Haghtalab was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
Officials believe the strike on the airbase was a response to Iran’s barrage of over 300 drones and missiles against Israel on April 13, almost all of which were intercepted and ultimately caused minimal damage.
The recent tit-for-tat attacks between the Jewish state and Tehran has raised fears that the war in Gaza will engulf the Middle East as Israel is poised to take on Iran and its terror proxies.
