Inside Israel’s Boldest Strike: Drones, Smuggled Weapons in Daring Iran Operation

Israel’s recent air strikes have been said to have dealt a devastating blow to Iran’s nuclear installations and disabled the key components of its military command, giving Tehran few retaliatory options. The military experts have stated that a full-scale war appears unlikely, considering Iran’s present state of unreadiness and reduced capability to respond effectively.

For the second night in a row, Israeli warplanes attacked strategic Iranian targets, bringing what had been an old-standing shadow war to a public and overt level of confrontation. There were heightened tensions after Hamas’s October 2023 strike on Israel, which served as a catalyst to the underlying regional tension, reports Reuters.

Tehran’s Response Falls Short

In return, Iran asserted that it had fired hundreds of ballistic missiles at Israel. However, Israel’s military disputed that number, reporting that fewer than 100 were actually launched, most of which either missed their mark or were shot down. The Israeli government attested that two individuals had been killed as a result of Iranian missile attacks.

Reuters, citing regional security officials, wrote that Iran’s missile capabilities and its regional military infrastructure have been severely weakened by Israeli activities since the Gaza war was initiated by Hamas. Accordingly, Tehran no longer has the ability to launch a similar scale or even an effective strike.

Israel’s Years-Long Secret Preparation

Israel’s precision strike, code-named ‘Operation Rising Lion’, was the result of thorough planning by both the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the Mossad spy service. The Times of Israel reported that the operation had been under preparation for a number of years, as Israel established covert assets and penetrated Iranian territory without detection.

An Israeli security official explained to the publication that “Mossad agents had set up a secret drone base close to Tehran.” Drones from this location were employed to knock out surface-to-surface missile launchers aimed at Israel.

Precision Weapons and Elite Forces

One of the operation’s successes relied on the covert smuggling of precision weapons systems into Iran. Concealed vehicles carried the sophisticated equipment, which was subsequently utilized to disable Iranian air defences. This opened the way for Israeli planes to fly over Iranian territory at minimal risk.

In a unusual step, Mossad published video footage on Saturday morning, highlighting attacks on Iranian missile facilities and air defence sites. A notable clip included Mossad agents firing precision-guided missiles close to a central Iranian key anti-aircraft base.

The unidentified Israeli official referred to the strike as ‘a combination of creative strategy, bold planning, and accurate implementation with the latest technology, special forces, and covert agents deep inside Iran, all without being detected by Iranian intelligence’.

With this action, Israel seems to have dealt a strategic and psychological setback to Tehran, emphasizing not only its intelligence presence but also military preeminence in a theatre for many years dominated by proxy forces and covert actions.