The Islamic Republic of Iran today is a Shiite Islamic republic with a Sunni minority under a theocratic regime which is ruled by President Hassan Rouhani since 2013. Historically, it is home to some of the world's oldest civilizations including the Persian empire. Since the 1979 Islamic revolution Iran has become more and more conservative.
Tehran openly targeted Israel for the first time on April 13 with more than 300 missiles and drones in what it said was retaliation for Israel's suspected deadly bombing of its embassy compound.
The Iranians scheduled each of the separate launches so the weapons would arrive at the same time to overwhelm Israel’s defense systems.
Russia and Iran have been discussing the delivery of Su-35 fighter jets to Iran for over a year.
Israel had decided earlier not to launch a full-scale attack against Iran, and instead decided on a quieter tactic to send a message with the aim of ending the cycle of attacks.
The Israelis were targeting an air defense radar site near Isfahan that’s part of the protection of the Natanz nuclear facility," ABC said, in the name of the official.
The IDF was looking for a way to respond to the attack without being dragged into a direct and ongoing confrontation.
An Iranian official told Reuters there were no plans to respond against Israel for the incident.
Israel will not accept responsibility for this attack for strategic reasons.
If no nuclear sites were hit, the response might be viewed as limited by Iran and the West.
Those who claimed that Iran's drone and missile attacks on Israel were strong and just responses are now saying the Israeli strike was weak and an unnecessary escalation.
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