April 20, 2024 (EIRNS)—The New York Times reported today, citing multiple sources, including Western and Iranian officials, all unnamed but privy to classified information, that Israel’s Friday morning strike, April 19, inside Iran did inflict damage, but of a sort meant to deliver two messages. Specifically, that at least one missile, “fired from a warplane far from Israeli or Iranian airspace” (nor from Jordanian airspace, it was clarified) and equipped with technology that enabled it to evade detection by Iran’s radar defenses, had damaged an Iranian S-300 anti-aircraft system located near the city of Natanz which is said to be “critical to the country’s secret nuclear weapons program.” How much damage was not clear, the reports.
“The strike, the Western officials said, was calculated to deliver a message to Iran that Israel could bypass Iran’s defense systems undetected and paralyze them, using a fraction of the fire power Iran deployed last week when it launched hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel,” the Times reported. The decision to strike in this fashion “intended to send a quiet but decisive message with the aim of ending the cycle of reprisal.” The fact that neither Iranian nor Israeli officials are making much publicly of Friday’s attack is viewed as evidence that neither country wishes to escalate at this time.
