By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
The Pentagon is sending a message to Iran – don’t retaliate for Israel’s attack on Iranian military targets over the weekend, an assault triggered by Iran’s missile barrage against earlier in the month.
“We believe that this should be the end of this tit for tat. We don’t think that, you know, Iran should or needs to respond,” the Defense Department’s deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters on Monday. “You are also seeing folks from this administration in the region continuing to consult, to push for a ceasefire…push for the release of hostages. We want to see folks return home to their – to be able to go home on both sides of the border of Lebanon.
“So, that’s something that we’re focused on. So, we would urge Iran not to respond.”
In turn, Iran may be signaling that it’s not interested in an escalation.
The Iranian military issued a statement after Israel attacked air defense missile batteries and missile production facilities, hinting that a ceasefire in both Lebanon and Gaza was more important that a retaliatory strike.
And Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei didn’t call for an immediate response, saying the Israeli attack “should not exaggerated nor downplayed.”
Meanwhile, questions are being raised about the Russian-made air defense systems that Israeli attackers destroyed.
The Wall Street Journal reported that the weapons, included the highly-touted S-300, “stopped few if any of the missiles that Israel launched from 100 jet fighters, according to US and Israeli officials.” In the UK, The Telegraph said that the attacks showed off Israel’s intelligence and operational skills, which allowed it to breach Iran’s defenses more easily.
That’s a blow to Russia’s defense industry, which comes at a bad time. Ukraine has already proven it can target the S-300 and the more advance S-400 system . Not only is quality an issue among potential export clients, so is Russia’s ability to fulfill orders – Russian contractors are hard-pressed to keep up with the Kremlin’s demand for arms.
“Russia’s traditional customers have lost faith in the country’s defense industry and are looking for new suppliers,” Ian Storey of the Singapore think tank ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute told the Wall Street Journal.
Among the bigger customers is India, which in 2018 agreed to buy five S-400 systems as part of a $5.4 billion deal. Three of the systems have been delivered, but the other two have been delayed because of the war in Ukraine.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Russian arms exports have plunged 52 percent since 2022.
