Cables From The Diplomatic Frontlines - Israeli airstrikes and Iran finds itself in an unpalatable situation.

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Assessing Israeli airstrikes.

• First off, context matters: Israeli strikes occurred mere 1.5 days after the US airstrikes on Houthis in Yemen.

• And the strike on Yemen was also noteworthy - for the first time in almost a decade US Air Force used its stealthy B-2, bombers to target, hardened and buried locations used as ammo Depots of the Houthi militia.

• This was the first time that the stealthy B-2 bombers were used since the campaign on ISIS.

• Now, even though B-2s can carry a heavier payload than any other aircraft, if the purpose was to only inflict maximum damage with heavy explosives, the F-15s could also be used for that specific purpose.

• (side note: and that is exactly what Israel did when it hit Nasrallah's location back in September - F-15s were used to carry a number of 2,000 pound bombs)

• So the use of the B-2 bombers was strategic as well.

• It was primarily a signal to Iran: that if today, Iran's most valuable and strategically located proxy (given that Hezbollah is largely decimated at this point) can be hit with a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), then tomorrow, that very fate could be shared by Iran.

• And, of course, the regime leaders in Tehran know very well what else the B-2 bombers can carry - the GB-57 bunker buster bombs: ideal weapons to penetrate deeply buried and hardened ammo depots and even, if need be, nuclear sites as well.

• So Israeli air strikes taking place so soon after the US air strikes on Houthis signals alignment on containing Iran.

• This is especially important after the recent intel leaks where the US Intel agencies were discussing Israel’s next moves and plans for retaliation.

• A lot of powerful media institutions in the Middle East (naturally, primarily those of the Iranian regime) as well as hordes of social media users all across the global south, leapt at these revelations as evidence of chills in the US-Israeli relationship.

• There were also speculations that some senior intel officials in Washington deliberately led these to harm Israel, and that Israel may not enjoy the level of support in the US at the level that it assumes it does.

• (side note: naturally, there is probably some truth to this. The leaks don't really happen by accident - especially those that admit that Israel is in the possession of nuclear weapons.)

Capabilities and inflicted damage.

• Israel once again demonstrated incredible capability in conducting a complex airstrike campaign: nearly 100 fighter jets were deployed and it is likely that a number of high-precision and high-payload carrying missiles (like the air-launched LORA ballistics missile and/or sparrow missiles) were used to strike a range of Iranian targets.

• The offensive itself involved a number of distinct stages: where radars in Syria and Iraq were first disabled to enable Israeli jets to get closer to Iran.

• There is also some evidence that refueler tanker jets and early-warning aircraft were also involved.

• In addition, cyber attacks (targeting Iranian radar installations) were also conducted in preparation for actual airstrikes.

• Overall, the complexity and scale of this attack is evidence of Israel’s superior military capabilities.

• In fact, not many NATO countries could even replicate such an operationally complex offensive.

Damage inflicted.