Iran’s Response Exposes Gaps In Israel’s Defences

Iran carried out missile strikes on Saturday targeting the Israeli towns of Dimona and Arad, areas close to a key nuclear research centre. The attack, according to Tehran, was meant as a response to an earlier Israeli strike on its Natanz facility in Isfahan province. The situation is taking a more serious turn, with the Israel-US confrontation with Iran growing more intense by the day. Saturday’s strikes left over 180 people injured and forced many residents in key towns to evacuate. With the extent of Saturday’s damage in Arad and Dimona becoming clear, one question is gaining ground. Did Israel fail to fully anticipate the scale of Iran’s response?

Iran has spent years building up a wide mix of missiles, and analysts say it now has one of the most extensive arsenals in the region. Even without a strong modern air force, these weapons give Tehran the ability to strike targets at different distances. The stockpile ranges from short- and medium-range systems to longer-range cruise missiles that can hit land and sea targets. Iran relies on a set of short-range ballistic missiles that can reach targets a few hundred kilometres away, roughly between 150 and 800 km. Systems like the Fateh series are meant for quick regional hits. In tense situations, these missiles can be fired one after another in rapid bursts, leaving little room for early warning or interception.

There were also reports of missiles being aimed at Diego Garcia, a distant Indian Ocean base used by the US and the UK, located around 4,000 kilometres from Iran. British officials said the attempt didn’t succeed, while an Iranian official reportedly denied it had launched anything at all. That claim stands out, especially since Iran’s longest-range systems, like the Soumar, are generally thought to cover about 2,000 to 2,500 kilometres.

An expert, speaking to a US news agency, said Iran appears to have used cluster munitions in strikes on Israel, adding that several of its warheads are designed to disperse smaller explosives over a wider area. These warheads don’t rely on a single detonation—instead, they split open and scatter several smaller explosives across the target area. A 2008 international treaty banned cluster munitions, but Iran and Israel are not part of it. Amnesty International criticised Iran for using them in the conflict, and Israel has also been accused of deploying similar weapons in Lebanon.

An Israeli military spokesperson said a few Iranian missiles managed to slip past the country’s active air defences and hit Arad and Dimona. He added that the weapons were familiar and that officials are now looking into what went wrong. After some missiles slipped through, questions are being raised about how well Israel’s air defence system is actually holding up. There’s also growing talk that the military could be rationing its most advanced—and expensive—interceptors, especially after reports that supplies took a hit during last year’s fighting with Iran.