Iran's Missiles and Its Evolving "Rings of Fire"

(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Uzi Rubin - On Oct. 10, 2019, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that Iran has deployed precision missiles in Yemen that can reach Israel. The missiles, the machinery for local production of missile fuel, and the required raw materials are secretly smuggled into Houthiland through maritime and land routes. Large missiles are chopped into short segments for ease of transport, then welded back together. The Iranians have surreptitiously transferred to their Houthi clients ballistic missiles with ranges of up to 1,200 km. At present, the Israeli heartland is threatened by Iranian-supplied rockets and missiles from the north (Lebanon), the southwest (Gaza), and from the east (Iran-affiliated militias in Iraq who are being supplied by Tehran with missiles that can reach Israel). Iran can also hit Israel with missiles from its own territory and has no need to base them in Iraq. But Iran's proclaimed "no first strike" policy prevents it from threatening Israel directly unless it is first attacked by Israel. The writer, founding director of the Israel Missile Defense Organization, which managed the Arrow program, is a senior research associate at the BESA Center.


2020-01-10 00:00:00

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