Israel Assisted by 240 US, NATO Warplanes amid Iran’s Retaliatory Operation: General
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – An Iranian general said one division of the IRGC Aerospace Force employed only 20% of its offensive power during the retaliatory operation against Israeli military targets on April 14, while 240 fighter jets provided by the US and NATO were available to protect the Zionists.
In an interview with the Iranian daily ‘Iran’, Commander of Khatam al-Anbia Headquarters Major General Gholam Ali Rashid gave details about the ‘True Promise Operation’ that the Iranian armed forces carried out against Israeli military targets last month.
In the early hours of April 14, the IRGC Aerospace Force launched tens of missiles and drones against military targets in the occupied territories in retaliation for the Israeli regime’s April 1 airstrike on the consular section of Iran’s embassy in Damascus that killed seven Iranian military commanders and advisers.
General Rashid said only one division of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps Aerospace Force was tasked with carrying out the operation, while even that single unit employed only 20 percent of its offensive power in the operation.
On the other side, the US, NATO, CENTCOM and the Zionist regime had prepared 240 fighter jets, while various anti-missile air defense systems of the US warships in the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea, as well as the Zionist regime’s anti-missile systems, were on the alert, he said.
The general said that the single division of the IRGC Aerospace Force was prepared to unleash the remaining 80 percent of its offensive power and launch another wave of strikes under orders.
However, the Iranian commanders concluded that the operation sufficed for the punishment of the Zionist regime, the general noted.
The support that the US, the UK, France and the European governments provided for the Israeli regime was reminiscent of the Crusades, he added.
In a meeting with top Iranian military commanders on April 21, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei admired the Iranian Armed Forces for manifesting the country’s power and determination in the international arena by conducting the retaliatory operation against the Israeli regime.
