The humiliation of Iran

In attacking Iranian military sites this weekend, Israel broke through its fear barrier. For years, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have planned to strike Iran using aircraft but they have always backed out at the last minute. IDF war planners feared the worst-case scenario: downed planes, pilots captured and Israeli citizens hung as spies in Tehran’s central squares.

Yet at two a.m. on Saturday morning more than 60 US made F-35, F-16, and F-15s, accompanied by Boeing mid-air fuelling planes and early warning air intelligence aircraft, took off from several Israeli air bases. Aboard were 150 air crew. They flew 1,600 kilometres for two hours, passing over Syria and Iraq, and entered Iranian air space. 

Within three hours, with precision guided missiles, they hit 20 targets in five regions across Iran. The targets included several Russian made S-300 air defence batteries, radars, ballistic missile and drones production lines and store houses, as well as Parchin base, near Tehran, where in the past Iran has conducted secret nuclear experiments.