Israel has reportedly warned that if Iran attacks in retaliation to the assassination of a top Iranian commander, it will respond by destroying the latter’s nuclear sites.
Israel killed Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a top commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Quds Force in Lebanon and Syria, as he was meeting with other Iranian commanders and leaders from Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Iranian embassy in Syria.
According to a report from the London-based, Middle East-focused news organization Elaph News, a Western security official said Israel has been conducting air force drills in recent days “that include preparing to target Iranian nuclear facilities and other key infrastructure.” Iran is home to several active nuclear sites, including power plants, uranium mines and research reactors.
Reports also indicated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet has been conducting crunch meetings over fears that Iran will launch an assault as tensions in the Middle East escalate. Netanyahu warned in the days after Zahedi’s assassination that the country will not hesitate to take preemptive military action against any threat it faces.
“Iran has been acting against us for years – directly and via proxies. And, therefore, Israel acts against Iran and its proxies – defensively and offensively,” he said. “We will know how to defend ourselves and we will act according to the simple principle: That those who harm us or plan to harm us, we will harm.”
Similarly, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei quickly hit out with revenge threats and vowed to “defeat the Zionist regime.” President Ebrahim Rasi, sharing the sentiment, said Israel’s strike “will not go unanswered.” Experts are concerned that retaliation by Iran could spark a global war.
However, U.S. officials think that Iran is unlikely to launch a direct attack as sources familiar with U.S. intelligence report that Iran has “urged several of its proxy militia groups to simultaneously launch a large-scale attack against Israel, using drones and missiles and that they could attack as soon as this week.”
Meanwhile, hours after Iran threatened to strike Israel in revenge for the Syria blast, the country’s national security defenses were put on high alert and the Israel Defense Forces jumped to action in preparation. Reservists were called up and planned leaves for active-duty troops were cancelled. Air defenses and missile stores were shored up and GPS services were shut down.
Iran vs. Israel: Who has a better chance of winning?
Analysts and the wider public are now wondering who has a better chance of winning a war if tensions escalate in the Middle East. As per reports, Israel, being a close ally of the United States and the top recipient of foreign aid from Washington, has received some $263 billion from 1946 to 2023.
When it comes to weaponry, Israel has more than 2,200 tanks, 580 aircraft, including 250 fighter jets, five submarines and 49 patrol and coastal combatants. The Iranian air force, meanwhile, only has over 500 aircraft, including 180 fighter jets such as the domestically produced Saeqeh and the aged F-4 Phantoms it had inherited from the previous, U.S.-friendly regime.
On the YouTube channel of Hindustan Times, the war prowess of the two countries was compared as well. According to the analysis, Israel’s military budget is a massive $23 billion compared to Iran’s $6.8 billion.
When it comes to manpower, Israel has 170,000 active personnel and up to 500,000 reservists it can call upon. Iran, meanwhile, has 525,000 active personnel and 350,000 reservists.
The report also noted that Israel may have one of the most advanced missile arsenals in the Middle East, but Iran has a more diverse missile arsenal. When it comes to drones, Israel operates reconnaissance and attack drones while Iran has over two dozen suicide attack and surveillance models.
For attack weapons on land, the former anchors its vehicle fleet on the technologically advanced Merkava main battle tank, while the latter uses the indigenously designed Zulfiqar and Karrar main battle tanks.
For naval battles, Israel has around seven corvette warships and seven submarines. It also operates eight missile boats and 40 patrol vessels. Iran, on the other hand, has approximately six frigates and three corvette warships, 34 submarines and 80 patrol vessels.
Israel is believed to have nuclear warheads but to date, there has been no official confirmation of this. Meanwhile, United States officials confirmed that Iran has enough fissile material to develop a nuclear weapon in just one to two weeks.
Watch the video below that talks about Iran’s devastating response to the U.S. and Israel’s bombing.
