Iran: Israel only caused "minor damage" to air defenses, is now repaired

Iran has rebuilt its air defenses after being struck by the Israeli air raid in October 26, according to a statement yesterday (Wednesday) by Iranian Chief of Staff Mohammad Bagheri, as reported by Iran International.

"The air defense of Islamic Iran is at the height of readiness, and the minor damage inflicted on it has been completely repaired," Bagheri is reported to have said. This is the first official acknowledgement by an Iranian official that Israel did indeed damage Iran's air defenses during the second of its two air raids on the country.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly claimed that the Iranian air defenses were "crippled" in the second of two air strikes launched against the Islamic Republic following massed missile and drone attacks on Israel from Iran and its proxies.

The neutralizing of Iran's air defenses has been the basis for Israel's discussion of possibly launching an air strike to cripple or destroy Iran's nuclear weapons production sites, identified by Israeli and American intelligence and other sources.

President Donald Trump has said that he thinks it would be "nice" if Iran could arrive at a deal to not develop nuclear weapons without Israel launching an air strike, and has expressed interest in trying to negotiate a deal to prevent further warfare.

On the other hand, Trump did also sign an executive order reimposing the "maximum pressure" sanctions from his first term, saying that they were very "tough" on Iranians, but that he had no choice since Iran is too close to having nuclear weapons.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham told reporters that he prefers the "military option" of giving Israel every armament it needs to destroy the Iranian nuclear sites, during a visit of a bipartisan delegation of Senators to Israel.

Graham said that if the United States is to negotiate with Iran, it should have a clear time limit as well as a clear definition of what counts as "success."