Iran has now withstood three days of Israeli attacks, which have killed more than 240 Iranians, including several members of its military leadership.But its own response has been to hit back in a manner that Israel has never had to experience – with Iranian missiles causing devastating damage in Israel’s biggest cities – including Tel Aviv and Haifa.
How much damage both sides have caused – and in many cases what sites have exactly been hit – is unclear, with accurate facts hard to come by due to the information war that has accompanied the military conflict.
It is also hard to know how many missiles and munitions both sides still have in their stockpiles, and how long Israel and Iran can sustain this fight.
What we do know is that Iran is believed to have the largest missile programme in the Middle East, with thousands of ballistic missiles available with varying ranges and speeds. At the current rate, Iran could likely carry on attacking Israel for weeks – enough time for Israel to experience significant damage, which its population is not used to after years of only really being exposed to attacks from weaker armed groups in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Yemen. Advertisement
Iran is also revealing how effective its more advanced missiles can be. The Haj Qassem missile, used for the first time against Israel on Sunday, was able to evade Israeli air defences, and footage from Israel clearly shows the difference in power and speed compared to the older missiles that Iran had been using in its earlier barrages.
Of course, Iran does not have an unlimited amount of these …
