An Israeli airstrike on Iran on Friday damaged an air defense system, according to Western and Iranian officials, in an attack calculated to deliver a message that Israel could bypass Iran’s defensive systems undetected and paralyze them.
The strike damaged a defensive battery near Natanz, a city in central Iran that is crucial to the country’s nuclear weapons program, according to two Western officials and two Iranian officials. The attack — and the revelation Saturday of its target — was in retaliation for Iran’s strike in Israel last week after Israel bombed its embassy compound in Damascus, Syria. But it used a fraction of the firepower Tehran deployed in launching hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel.
The strike Friday was the latest salvo in a series of tit-for-tat attacks between the two countries this month that have heightened fears of a broader regional conflict. But the relatively limited scope of Israel’s strike and the muted response from Iranian officials seem to have eased tensions.