(TargetDailyNews.com) – Iran may not be pleased with its $800 million purchase of a Russian-designed air defense array after Israel’s recent air strike on the country damaged the Russian-manufactured S-300 system.
The S-300 is a radar set used to track incoming targets. Analysts poring over data including satellite images believe the Israeli strike on April 19th severely damaged or destroyed the tracking system.
Iran launched the initial attack on Israel on April 13th, sending hundreds of drones and missiles toward the Jewish nation. Israeli defenses made quick work of the incoming artillery. Israel’s April 19th attack on Iran is presumably a reprisal.
Israel launched ordnance against Iran in the early hours of April 19th, and the city of Isfahan, to the south of Tehran, reported explosions. The country’s air defense system activated against a “suspicious object” at about 4 am according to Iranian state-run news. Hossein Dalirian with Iran’s space department said the system met and stopped three “quadcopter” drones from Israel. While not confirmed, anonymous sources in both the West and Iran claim at least one Israel fighter plane fired a missile, too.
Isfahan may have been targeted, as it is home to a nuclear enrichment facility and a sizeable military installation.
Spokespeople for Iran’s military are minimizing last Friday’s strike as merely a bunch of small drones. “What happened was not a strike,” said Hossein Amirabdollahian, Iran’s foreign minister. He described the drones as “toys that our children play with.”
While Russia’s two-year-old war against Ukraine has the country on the outs with most of the international community, ties between Russia and Iran remain strong. Indeed, they sell and exchange military equipment. Russia makes heavy use of Iranian explosive drones and has bought hundreds of missiles from the Middle Eastern country.
Moscow delivered the S-300 radar system to Tehran in 2016 as part of an $800 million deal.
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