If the country’s attack in April demonstrated Tehran’s ability to penetrate Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome, Tuesday’s strike made good on its promise to follow it up with something more substantial if provoked. Iran claimed it targeted three Israeli military bases in an attack that reportedly struck multiple F-35 fighter jets. The US-provided aircraft would’ve been used to target Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last week and would constitute an important part of Israel’s military force if it follows through on a threatened invasion of Lebanon.
Multiple analysts joined Sputnik to comment on the event Tuesday, noting that Tehran has demonstrated substantial military power after practicing restraint for an extended period.
“Are people mistaking restraint with weakness?” asked The Critical Hour host Wilmer Leon, adding, “it seems as though there's a very disciplined tactic here of measured response.”
“It does seem so,” claimed journalist Robert Fantina, the author of Settler Colonialism in Palestine and Kashmir. “It does seem that if people are going to mistake that measured response for weakness, they're going to regret it because they're going to be proven wrong.
“Iran does not want to be attacked by the United States, obviously,” the commentator noted. “And any attack against Israel – even retaliatory, even in self-defense – would bring the United States into the war, unless the response is very measured, very well planned, and not a kind of random carpet-bombing sort of thing. Not the sort of thing that Israel is doing to Lebanon and Gaza.”
“So, I think that the government of Iran is waiting and watching, and it's playing the long game. It's not necessarily looking for an immediate victory, but it does want to see progress in peace in the region, and that means the defeat of Israel. How it will do that remains to be seen.”
Author and independent journalist Esther Iverem agreed with the assessment, noting that many observers predicted “this attack would be much larger.”
“That previous attack was just almost like a showpiece to let Israel know that, ‘not only can we hit you, but we can hit you hard. Our missiles can get through your many layers of defense even with all of your protectors in NATO and in the US, basically shooting down most of those key projectiles for you; our main missiles hit their targets and hit them precisely and hard,’” said the radio host, summarizing Tehran’s perspective.
Iran said it deployed its hypersonic Fatteh-2 missile during Tuesday’s attack, which is able to maneuver at a speed of about 10,000 miles per hour (over 16,000 kilometers per hour). Analysts claim the United States would also struggle to frequently replenish Israel’s Iron Dome during a prolonged conflict.