'Where's Our Air Defence?': How Iran's Miscalculation Let Israel Assert Military Dominance

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Israel launched massive air strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities on Friday and also eliminated top military officials and nuclear scientists.
Israel-Iran conflict: Iran did not expect Israel to launch strikes on Tehran's nuclear facilities before the sixth round of US-Iran talks, which was earlier scheduled for Sunday in Oman, The New York Times reported, citing officials close to the country's leadership.
The NYT report revealed private text messages between senior Iranian officials, in which they asked one another, 'Where is our air defense?" and 'How can Israel come and attack anything it wants, kill our top commanders, and we are incapable of stopping it?"
Iran Miscalculated Israel's Offensive: Report
Though Iran was well aware of the preparations being carried out by Israel for a possible attack on Tehran's nuclear facilities, it did not expect Jerusalem to strike while the negotiations with the US regarding the nuclear programme were still underway. This allowed for the exceptional success of the Israeli operation launched on early Friday morning, the report said.
🚨Millions of Israelis are currently running for shelter as sirens sound in the following cities and communities around Israel:Jerusalem, Ashdod, Kfar Ruppin, Maoz Haim, Neve Eitan, Ganey Hugg', Beit She'an, Hamadia, Ein HaNatziv, Kfar Ruppin, Maoz Haim, Neve Eitan, Sdeh…
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) June 14, 2025
The Iran-US talks hang in limbo as Tehran has indicated that it is likely to cancel the negotiations amid full-blown military action against Israel.
NYT report said.
The officials told the newspaper that the complacency of the leadership may have stopped them from taking any preemptive precautions against an Israeli attack. The instance of this was that the senior Iranian military commanders stayed in their private residences on the night when Israeli forces conducted the strikes, instead of taking shelter in the safe shelters. This allowed Israel to take down senior Iranian officials, including Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami and Armed Forces chief Mohammad Hossein Bagheri.
Several scientists involved in Iran's nuclear programme were also killed in the strikes.
In another instance of oversight by Iran, Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps Aerospace Forces, convened an emergency war meeting of senior officials, prompting Israel to eliminate all of them at once in a single bombing.
'Israel's Attack Caught Leadership By Surprise': Official
The top officials were also questioned about what failures in the intelligence and defence systems led Iran not to foresee the Israeli offensive.
'Israel's attack completely caught the leadership by surprise, especially the killing of the top military figures and nuclear scientists," said Hamid Hosseini, a member of Iran's Chamber of Commerce's energy committee, in a phone call with the NYT from Iran.
'It also exposed our lack of proper air defense and their ability to bombard our critical sites and military bases with no resistance," he added.
Hosseini confessed that the Iranian officials were shocked by Israel's ability to infiltrate Iran's military and security apparatus.
What Did Khamenei Say On Attack?
The report also mentioned two Iranian officials who were aware of the discussions that took place after the attacks, led by Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In those talks, Khamenei said he wanted revenge against Israel but didn't want to rush into action.
According to the officials, there were disagreements among Iran's leadership about how to respond. Some were concerned about whether Iran could handle a long war with Israel, especially if the US got involved and given the damage Israel had already done to Iran's missile systems and defense capabilities.
An official at the meeting reportedly said that if Israel launched an attack on Iran's energy or water infrastructure, it may lead to riots in the country.
An IRGC member who was informed about the meeting told The NYT that the officials realised Ayatollah Khamenei was facing a tough choice: either go for an all-out war, which could put his decades-long rule at risk, or pull back, which would be seen as a sign of defeat both inside Iran and on the global stage.
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tags :
iran israel
Location :
Israel
First Published:
June 15, 2025, 09:57 IST
News world 'Where's Our Air Defence?': How Iran's Miscalculation Let Israel Assert Military Dominance