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from https://www.foxnews.com/world/radical-iranian-province-hit-israel-highlights-regimes-weaknesses

Radical Iranian province hit by Israel highlights regime's weaknesses
Isfahan is a hotbed of antisemitic activity and was home to a
Holocaust-denial cartoon contest
By Benjamin Weinthal Fox News
Published April 20, 2024 11:18am EDT

New details reveal Israel's intended target in Iranian counterattack
Fox News' Jeff Paul reports live from Tel Aviv on the message Israel's
latest attack sends to Iran.

JERUSALEM - Just a week ago, some residents of Iran’s central province
of Isfahan - a nuclear weapon and missile production hub of the Islamic Republic - cheered the Iranian rockets fired into Israel.

In the early-morning hours of Friday, the Isfahan authorities were
jolted by Israeli strikes that triggered their air defense systems in
the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz after three explosions went off near an important military airbase close to Isfahan. It is unclear how much
damage Israel’s strikes inflicted. Iran’s regime reported no casualties.

Potkin Azarmehr, a British-Iranian expert on Iran, told Fox News
Digital, "What my sources are saying is that there is no damage to the
airbase, but Israel proved it can jam Iran’s air defense and bypass it
to the extent that they didn’t even manage to sound the alarm despite
Isfahan being in the heart of Iranian territory."

He continued that "Isfahan is the epicenter of Iran’s air defense. If
they couldn’t detect the attack, serious questions about the reliability
of Iran’s air defense must be asked."

IRAN'S 'NUCLEAR ENERGY MOUNTAIN' IS 'FULLY SAFE' AFTER ISRAELI STRIKE:
STATE MEDIA

Iran drone strike
Eyewitness footage shows what is said to be the moment of an explosion
at a military industry factory in Isfahan, Iran, January 29, 2023, in
this still image obtained from a video. Pool via WANA (West Asia News
Agency) via Reuters. (Pool via WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS)

Azarmehr noted, "When the Pakistan Air Force retaliated after Iran
missile attack, there was no air defense."

Isfahan is a top-priority strike location for Israeli forces, because
the area is one of the central features of the regime’s illicit atomic weapons program. It is where the powerful Shahab medium-range missiles
are made. Isfahan was the testing ground back in late October for the
country's missile system, which proved capable of reaching Israel last week.

Israeli strikes against Iran’s regime are typically shrouded in
ambiguity to avoid any fingerprints on the missions and to leave
Tehran’s rulers guessing.

In January, 2023, Israeli drone strikes allegedly hit a weapons factory
inside Isfahan. The drone attack last year was said to be executed by Israel’s foreign intelligence service, Mossad.

The Jerusalem Post reported that Friday's response was meant to be
internalized as "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Israel
retaliated where they were attacked."

Pro-Iranian supporters
Iranian pro-government supporters hold a giant Palestinian flag at
Palestine Square in Tehran, on April 14, 2024, in a celebration of
Iran's early-morning IRGC attack on Israel. Iran fired over 100 drones
and ballistic missiles on Saturday, April 14, 2024, in retaliation for
an attack on a building attached to the country's consular annex in
Damascus that killed seven members of the Quds Force of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) on April 1, 2024. Iran has blamed
Israel for the attack on April 5, 2024, in Tehran. (Photo by Hossein
Beris / Middle East Images / Middle East Images via AFP)

Isfahan is also a hotbed of antisemitism and Holocaust denial. At an
April Al-Quds day demonstration, the last Friday of Ramadan, Iran
promoted the destruction of Israel. The Imam of Isfahan, Ayatollah
Yousef Tabatabainejad, declared, "It is our obligation to support the
oppressed Muslims who have been oppressed, and we hope that, with divine providence in this path of resistance, we will be able to wipe the
Zionist regime off the face of the earth."

In 2016, the Islamic Association of the University of Isfahan announced
a cartoon contest that aims to mock and deny the Holocaust.

Sheina Vojoudi, an associate fellow at the Gold Institute for
International Strategy, told Fox News Digital that "Isfahan is of great strategic importance in Iran. There are military and nuclear bases in
Isfahan, and it shows how the regime is concentrated in this city and
the rockets that were fired at Israel were also fired from one of the
bases in Isfahan."

REPORTS OF ISRAEL'S RETALIATORY STRIKES AGAINST IRAN PROMPT REACTIONS
FROM LAWMAKERS: 'RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF'

Iran
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows Iran's nuclear site in
Isfahan, Iran, on April 4, 2024. Iran fired air defenses at a major air
base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of
Isfahan after spotting drones, which were suspected to be part of an
Israeli attack in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented
drone-and-missile assault on the country. ((Planet Labs PBC via AP))

Vojoudi, an Iranian dissident who opposes the Islamic Republic’s
government, added that the "attack on Isfahan means that this city is
one of the main points where the regime can pose a threat to Israel and,
of course, to the Iranian people because of the intense activities of
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The regime's nuclear
activities have almost ruined the lives of the people of Isfahan and
increased the rate of cancer in Isfahan."

Iran arms exhibit
An Iranian long-range Ghadr missile displaying "Down with Israel" in
Hebrew is pictured at a defence exhibition in the city of Isfahan,
central Iran, on February 8, 2023. (Photo by MORTEZA SALEHI/TASNIM
NEWS/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo by MORTEZA SALEHI/TASNIM NEWS/AFP via
Getty Images)

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

While the U.S. and allies seem to be content with Israel's reaction,
other experts say an opportunity has been wasted.

"This is a missed opportunity. Israel needed to impose a serious cost on
Iran to restore deterrence. I worry that this pin-prick reprisal will
instead teach Iran that it can get away with large-scale attacks on U.S. partners without serious consequences," said Matthew Kroenig, vice
president and senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Center
for Strategy and Security and the Council’s Director of Studies.

Benjamin Weinthal reports on Israel, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Europe. You
can follow Benjamin on Twitter @BenWeinthal.


Conversation1.8K Comments
Discussions are moderated. For more details, click here.


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donthave1307
1 day ago

Conclusively demonstrating that Israel can attack even the most
sensitive targets with impunity without killing a bunch of people would
be taken as a dire warning to rational people. If these had been nuclear weapons deployed in response to an Iranian nuclear attack the entire
country would be glow...See more

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somfe
1 day ago

fine spotlight on the situation with accurate information . ..
thanks


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lofw
1 day ago

300 and 6 made to the ground vs 3 for 3 and they didn't even know they
were coming.

I'm going with the 3 for 3 side for 1 billion$ please.


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295

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commiekiller453
1 day ago

More like 0 for 340 (hit the targets) vrs 3 for 3. If Israel fired 340 missiles, rockets and drones at Iran, their Millitary capability would
be over. Along with oil and nuclear ambitions.


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107

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4 replies
seademhawks
1 day ago

Iran. The same country we have been proxy fighting with since the
1970's. They are the chief sponsor of terror in the world, and have been
for decades! Houthi, Hamas, Hezbollah, and even the Taliban. All of them are/were supplied by Iran. Iran and the Taliban are not normally allies,
but during the...

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SvensonHockpot
1 day ago

Instead of targeting civilians, the Israelis sent some drones into
Iran's most sensitive military installations, which are supposed to be impregnable. Message being, we can destroy your country anytime we want.
Israel is on their own this time around as Biden supports Iran.


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passinglead
1 day ago

Because Iran is supporting spineless Marxist Biden for president 2024.

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3 replies

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