Israel’s October 2024 airstrikes on Iran gave it the operational edge for June’s attacks, the Jewish State's military said on Sunday, marking the anniversary of strikes that reportedly destroyed Iran’s remaining Russian-provided S-300 air defense systems.
"One year ago today, the Israeli Air Force completed strikes on military targets in Iran, conducted in response to the Iranian regime’s attacks against the State of Israel in the preceding months," the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement.
"The targets included production facilities for ballistic missiles intended to strike the State of Israel. In addition, the Israeli Air Force dismantled several advanced surface-to-air missile arrays, an action that expanded aerial freedom of action over Iranian airspace," it added.
The attacks, launched in retaliation for a ballistic missile barrage from Iran on Oct. 1, knocked out the Islamic Republic's last three S-300 air defense missile systems and left the country "naked", Fox News reported at the time citing US and Israeli officials.
The surface-to-air S-300s were the last in the Islamic Republic's arsenal after one was destroyed in an attack in April also likely carried out by Israel, Fox News quoted a senior US official as saying. The strikes were launched from US-provided F-35 jets, the official added.
In an internal phone call at the time, the US president's adviser for the Middle East Amos Hochstein said, "Iran is essentially naked", according to the US news channel.
One Iranian civilian and four military personnel were killed, Iranian media said last year.
In its statement on Sunday, the Israeli military said "the success of the strike provided an operational advantage for launching Operation ‘Rising Lion’," referring to the Israeli operation in June targeting top commanders of Iran's military as well as its nuclear scientists and sensitive facilities.
Hundreds of military personnel and civilians were killed in the Israeli airstrikes.
Tehran answered with over 500 ballistic missiles and 1,100 drones, inflicting heavy casualties and widespread destruction, killing 32 Israeli civilians and one off-duty soldier.
