Israeli journalist Ben Caspit, in an article in Al Monitor, reports that while Israel regrets that the U.S. strike did not happen on Jan. 14, it understands the decision. The planned timing appears to have been ill-advised both operationally and defensively. “The Americans had not yet amassed sufficient forces here, they did not have a coherent plan and a well-defined goal,” a senior Israeli diplomatic source conceded in a conversation with Caspit. “But an attack at that stage might have encouraged the demonstrators and intensified the anti-government protests, which were suppressed with unprecedented cruelty.”
The Middle East Spectator takes this to mean that Iran was indeed prepared for an attack. “On the night of January 14th, Iran closed its airspace. That means they KNEW an attack was coming. They detected signals that convinced them 100% that an attack was imminent, otherwise they would not have closed the airspace,” he wrote on Jan. 27. “This shows me that Iran is much more prepared for an attack than before the 12-Day War (which came as a complete surprise and zero NOTAMs (Notices to Airman —ed.) were issued before it).
“Somehow, this time Iran actually found out about the enemy’s plan before it could be implemented, and this must have played a major part in Trump deciding to postpone it.
“If the U.S. had managed to keep the strike plans a secret, and carry out a surprise attack, they would have needed much less assets. But they know Iran is watching and prepared this time, so they need additional forces to make an attack succeed.”
