This past week, the Iranian Quds force launched 20 missiles at Israeli positions in the Golan Heights and air raid sirens went off in several Israeli communities. This Iranian attack represents the latest in a continued escalation of hostilities since February. Israel, already locked and loaded, responded immediately with their largest response in Syria since the Yom Kippur War in 1973! Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman indicated that they targeted “nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria.” In addition, multiple types of Syrian air defense systems were targeted. The Israeli Air Force just released this amazing video taking out an SA-22, Pantsir S-1 point defense missile system which represents possibly the best air defense system Syria has.
While the Israelis took out virtually all of the Iranian infrastructure in Syria, Iran still has the capability to launch their own massive response. In southern Lebanon, Iran has supplied Hezbollah with literally thousands of rockets and missiles over the past several years. Obviously, if Hezbollah entered the fray, the IDF would most likely invade southern Lebanon and eliminate this threat. In addition, Iran has dozens, if not hundreds of ballistic missiles they could launch from Iran that could reach Israel as well. Indeed, a leading intelligence source in Israel recently indicated that Iran has higher quality missiles that neither Hezbollah or Syria possess. While the Israelis clearly sent a message with this massive response, the question remains: Did Tehran get the message? We’ll have to wait and see.
Bradley T. Carlson 