According to ABC News, on April 19, Israel began a full-scale retaliatory operation with explosions in the central Iranian province of Isfahan, the southern Syrian province of Suweida, the Baghdad region, and Iraq's Babylon province. The video from Isfahan shows that the Iranian army activated the air defense system over the area.
According to other media outlets, Iranian air bases and nuclear facilities were bombed by the Israeli Air Force, and Iran vowed to retaliate most violently.
Israel began to retaliate by airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities
It can be said that Israel's retaliation is quite fast, after the Israeli military spokesman said that it would definitely take retaliatory action, and the US media at that time believed that the Israeli Air Force would launch an air strike retaliatory action against Iran, and the IDF later confirmed this.
F-35 stealth fighters were the main force in this air raid operation
In particular, Israel has made it clear that it will retaliate against Iran's nuclear facilities, and has directly threatened to do so, but Israel has actually been clamoring for many years to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, and in 1981 Israel destroyed Iraq's nuclear facilities through long-range air strikes.
At present, according to the reports of Iranian media and other foreign media, it can be determined that in the early morning of the 19th, the capital of southern Syria and Iraq, Babylon Province, was hit by Israeli air strikes, and the whistling sound of Israeli Air Force fighters can be heard through the live video.
According to CNN, Isfahan was attacked
Then there is the Iranian province of Isfahan, which is home to Iran's main nuclear facilities, according to German media reports, Iran has dozens of nuclear facilities, but the most important is the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz and the conversion device in Isfahan.
Footage from the scene of the explosion in Isfahan
It is now certain that the air base in Isfahan has been attacked by Israel, and that the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz has been a priority target for Israel.
The best fighter in the Iranian Air Force is the F-14A, which is very different from the Israeli fighter
Isfahan's air base is home to the Iranian Air Force's F-14A fighter unit, which has been in service for more than 40 years, but these fighters are still the main force of the Iranian Air Force.
It is very likely that Israel's strike on Isfahan will be carried out by striking the airfields and fighter units of the Iranian Air Force, preparing for the possible retaliatory actions of the Israeli Air Force in the future, weakening the combat power of the Iranian Air Force, making it unable to effectively respond to and intercept the incoming attacks of the Israeli Air Force.
Iranian nuclear facilities
And the uranium enrichment facility in Natanz, an Iranian town, has long been seen as a thorn in the side of Israel. Iran has the Natanz nuclear facility there, covering an area of 100,000 square meters, which is the largest uranium enrichment facility in Iran.
On July 2, 2020, a fire and explosion occurred in the centrifuge production hall of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, which the Iranian government claimed was the result of a terrorist Israeli attack. Being attacked by Israel "has a long history".
The Natanz uranium enrichment facility is important for Iran
However, the effectiveness of the Israeli airstrike on the Natanz uranium enrichment facility is questionable, because Iran had already taken into account the possible threat of Israeli airstrikes, and the entire nuclear facility was built underground, and the roof of the hall was reinforced with several meters of reinforced concrete and 25 meters of earth.
At best, Israel's conventional means of striking blow up the surface structure of the Natanz uranium enrichment facility will not have much impact on the nuclear facility itself, not to mention the interception of Iranian anti-aircraft missiles.
The F-35I is covert and penetrates, and the consumption is significant
At present, it can basically be considered that Israeli F-35I stealth fighters, early warning aircraft, electronic warfare aircraft, and air tankers formed a formation from Syria to fly over Iraq, and then the F-35I formation broke into the Iranian hinterland to launch an out-of-zone strike.
Therefore, the Israeli Air Force fleet has struck Syria, Iraq, and Iran in turn, and the strikes against Syria and Iraq are mainly aimed at Iranian proxy forces.
The possible path of action of the Israeli Air Force this time, Syria - Iraq - Iran
The entire attack was over a distance of more than 2,500 kilometers, and the Israeli Air Force would definitely dispatch air tankers to refuel the fighter formation. Although Israel has a longer range and more bomb-carrying F-15I heavy fighter jets, the air defense system should not be underestimated, given that Iran has a large number of S300 anti-aircraft missiles at its nuclear facilities and air bases.
Considering the risk of this long-distance mission, Syria and Iraq both have anti-aircraft missiles, so the risk of choosing the F-35I with better stealth performance for a penetration strike is far less than using a conventional fighter like the F-15I.
Iranian S300 anti-aircraft missile
Therefore, during the activities in Iran, the Israeli warplanes were not intercepted by the Iranian air defense forces or fighter units, and according to various sources, the Israeli air force did not suffer "battle damage" during the operation.
However, the dispatch of the F-35I also means that Israel's means of attacking Iran are quite limited, after all, the F-35I's belly bomb bay cannot accommodate large ground-penetrating bombs, and the operation is likely to launch air-launched cruise missiles at Iranian targets, which pose little threat to the Natanz underground nuclear facility.
According to the latest statements of Iran, the Iranian air defense system is fully intercepted, and the nuclear facilities are currently in a safe state.
Therefore, Israel's retaliation may still be aimed at appeasing the people at home and showing the people the determination and hardline attitude of the IDF in response to the "April 13 Iran retaliation".
Iran: Will retaliate with the strongest measures
However, by doing so, Israel is only "adding fuel to the fire", and the Iranian side has clearly warned that if Israel dares to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, it will take the strongest measures.
Iran has vowed to retaliate tougher
Iranian President Raisi said on the 16th: "We clearly declare that any action that undermines Iran's interests will certainly be responded to harshly, widely and painfully." And Iran's foreign minister said in an interview in New York on the 19th that if the Israeli regime starts adventurism again and acts against Iran's interests, Iran's next response will be the most violent retaliation.
All in all, Iran will definitely retaliate against Israel more violently in the future, given that Iran now has a stockpile of 3-40,000 missiles of various types and tens of thousands of drones, and is equipped to launch continuous super-saturation strikes against Israel.
Iran has now stockpiled tens of thousands of missiles of various kinds
The follow-up does not even rule out the possibility that Iran will directly provide a series of missiles to Lebanese Allah, the Syrian army, and Iraqi pro-Iranian forces to strike Israel, and the "arc of resistance" throughout the Middle East may launch thousands of missiles and drones to launch retaliatory actions against Israel, and Israel's air defense system cannot cope at all, and Iran has the ability to turn parts of Israel into "a sea of fire".
All in all, Israel's "going it alone" undermines peace and stability in the Middle East, and it is foreseeable that the conflict between Iran and Israel will continue to heat up, and may even lead to the intervention of the US military, and the situation in the Middle East has completely gotten out of control.
Some of the contents of the article are sourced: 1. Carrying out retaliatory counterattacks? Israeli troops were bombed to "focus on Iran's nuclear facilities" Global Times