How Will Tehran Respond to Israel? Could Iranian Stealth Drones Target Critical Oil Infrastructure?
Iran’s foreign minister said on Monday that Washington military leaders gave Israel the “green light” to conduct a missile strike on its consulate building complex in Damascus last week that killed several of its top military officials, including two generals.
Hossein Amirabdollahian said, “Our response to the Zionist regime and its punishment is certain.” He continued that “conveying the message of our country to the United States as a full-fledged support of the Zionist regime and direct response for its crimes and actions.”
Addressing those warnings, in the US, National Security Council Strategic Communicators Coordinator John Kirby stated at a press conference on Monday that he couldn’t touch on the specific intelligence matters but pointed out that “the Israeli government could count on the United States’ support for any self-defense needs against threats directly by Iran to Israel, threats that Iran has made public.”
As a possible military response by Tehran nears, Kirby also warned US troops across the Middle East, especially in Iraq and Syria, face mounting threats from drone and missile attacks.
The question on everyone’s mind in the intel community is how Iran will respond. Tehran has many options, but which will it use?
“Iran’s Better, Stealthier Drones Are Remaking Global Warfare” reminded us how Iran’s mastery of low-tech drone warfare poses a significant threat to US military bases and oil infrastructure in the Middle East.
Earlier this year, three American troops were killed, and more than three dozen were injured by an Iranian-designed kamikaze drone at the Tower 22 US military base in Jordan.
“The last two years have been a period of hyper-acceleration of new tactics and techniques for Iran’s employment of drones,” Matthew McInnis, a Pentagon intelligence officer, told Bloomberg.
In February, Iran’s Aerospace Force Commander Brig. Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh announced that Tehran-made stealth drones could target any moving vessel and critical infrastructure at great ranges.
Hajizadeh claimed that Iran is one of the world’s leading powers in defense, including drone and missile technologies.
