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Iran Update, October 28, 2024

Senior Israeli officials stated that Israel's retaliatory strikes on Iran on October 25 “severely damaged” Iran's air defense capabilities, which would make Iran more vulnerable to future attacks. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) strikes “severely damaged” Iran's air defense and missile production capabilities.[1] Unspecified sources within the Israeli defense establishment reported that Israel's attack destroyed all of Iran's long-range surface-to-air missile batteries and long-range detection radars, leaving Iran with only domestically produced short-range defense batteries.[2] Western reporting has confirmed damage at a storage unit within the Abadan oil refinery in Khuzestan province and a TIECO oil and gas machinery factory in Tehran province, among others, following the IDF strikes.[3] Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called the strikes on Iran the most significant IDF Air Force operation since the Six-Day War in 1967, emphasizing that their impact represents “a change in the balance of power.”[4] Gallant stated that the damage from the strikes puts Iran at a “huge disadvantage” when it comes to future Israeli attacks.[5]

Unspecified Iranian sources told Israeli media that Israel also targeted and breached Iranian radar systems in Syria before launching its attack on Iran.[6] The sources noted that the radar screens in Iran's defense systems “froze“ before the IDF strikes.[7] CTP-ISW previously reported that the IDF likely targeted Iran's early detection network in Syria and Iraq that would have given Iran advanced notice of the incoming Israeli attack.[8]

Constrained Russian manufacturing capacity for new ground-based air defense systems and Russia's demand for these systems in Ukraine may limit Iran's ability to acquire new S-300s in the near term. CTP-ISW previously reported that Israeli strikes in Iran have targeted four S-300 air defense systems in Iran.[9] Israeli sources reported that Iran had only four S-300 batteries, suggesting that Iran does not have any functional S-300 batteries right now.[10] The Russian-made S-300 is the most advanced air defense system that Iran operates.

https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/iran-update-october-28-2024