By Shabbir Rizvi
Shortly before midnight Sunday, Iran launched a swarm of suicide drones and missiles at the occupied Palestinian territories in response to the Zionist regime’s cowardly strike on Iran’s consulate in Damascus on April 1.
The flock of drones could be heard buzzing over the Iraqi airspace, a signature sound that many have attributed to the extremely effective and lethal Shahed drone family.
Shortly after the first wave, another wave was launched approximately 30 minutes later. Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) officials in a statement confirmed what they called ‘Operation True Promise’, living up to their promise of definitive revenge against the apartheid regime.
According to the IRGC, Operation True Promise will be conducted in multiple stages until the requirements for the retaliation to be complete are made.
Iran’s Defense Minister Mohammed Reza Ashtiani also cautioned countries in the region against opening their airspace or soil to the Israeli regime for attacks against Iran, warning of a decisive response.
Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei, had in his Eid al-Fitr sermon vowed to “punish” the Israeli regime for the “mistake” of targeting an Iranian diplomatic facility.
He made a similar warning a day after the attack was carried out earlier this month, saying the regime would be punished. He doesn’t beat around the bush.
Since then, the Zionist regime has been in a state of paralysis, with its settlers living between false alarms and stocking up on supplies like gas, food, and water. Flights were canceled and the regime’s economy suffered a tremendous shock at a time when its economy was already struggling.
Importantly, many countries in the region reportedly refused to allow their territory to be used by the US as a launch pad for attacks against the Islamic Republic, showing changing regional dynamics.
In the past few days, the phone of Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian kept buzzing with several Western officials pleading for Iran to stand down and exercise restraint.
However, the decision for retaliation was solidified the minute the Israeli missile dropped in Damascus. Israel had to pay for its foolhardiness.
The Zionists have made the gravest miscalculation in their disgraceful lives. There was no strategic objective to be achieved from striking the Iranian consulate, martyring several IRGC officers on the anniversary of Imam Ali’s (a.s.) martyrdom.
The US, the primary backer of the Zionist regime, has been terrified of a regional war as they have already surrendered militarily to Yemen, pleading with Ansarullah for a diplomatic solution.
Israel was banking on US support to deter Iranian retaliation. They were wrong.
Zionist soldier vacations were canceled ahead of the attack and all reservists were ordered to report for duty. Israeli forces issued warnings to settlers to avoid large gatherings while remaining close to shelters. Meanwhile, Israeli officials pleaded with their allies to do anything to stop Iran.
But the Islamic Republic of Iran was not going to back down. Despite warnings from the US, mere hours before the launch of the drone and missile swarm, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps seized an Israeli-linked ship in the Strait of Hormuz, prompting the US to go into full alert in the region.
This can likely be interpreted as a message to US officials that Iran will attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz, which controls 20-30 percent of the world’s oil flow, if the US gets involved and tries to prevent Iran’s retaliation, or meddles in any way.
Further destabilizing the Tel Aviv regime is a series of virtual attacks disabling Israeli energy grids and air defense systems – all the while Iraq’s Kataib Hezbollah, Yemen’s Ansurallah, and Lebanon’s Hezbollah launch their own series of drone and rocket attacks, exhausting Israeli military systems.
Syrian air defenses are on high alert for Zionist planes only. These are just forces outside of Occupied Palestine – there is, of course, the Palestinian resistance both in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank actively confronting the Zionist regime on multiple fronts.
The Axis of Resistance, created through the careful planning and coordination of the late anti-terror lynchpin General Qasem Soleimani, is demonstrating for the first time a coordinated front against the Israeli occupation.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been moved to a bunker in occupied Jerusalem while typical weekend protests against him in Tel Aviv were dispersed in anticipation of the Iranian strike.
Weekend travel for US President Joe Biden was canceled for him to meet with his National Security team and plan ways to defend proxy entity in Tel Aviv.
The Iranian retaliation is within the scope of international law, which Israel has defiled time and time again. An attack on a consulate is a red line that any country would be able to respond to through military means.
It is also a flagrant violation of the Vienna Convention, which Israel adheres to. The hypocrisy of Western regimes in dissuading Iran to not respond shows that they do not abide by their own “rules-based order.”
If this were an attack on any Western regime, they would have responded with a disproportionate force. Iran’s response is proportional and just, and comes after much patience in dealing with the rogue regime.
Entire Israeli bases have been cleared in preparation for the Iranian retaliation. Shahed drones have pierced into Israeli airspace and reached Tel Aviv where Israeli jets are attempting to shoot them down.
It is important to note that Shahed drones are harder to shoot down with regular air defense systems due to their low heat signature.
The drones themselves are more than likely cannon fodder to shock the Zionist entity and keep them occupied while Iranian cruise missiles follow shortly behind.
Videos of settlers panicking as explosions ring across the Tel Aviv skyline are circulating online. Iran has shown that it is more than capable of shocking the Zionist entity, with Zionist forces reporting that they underestimated the Iranian response.
As Leader of the Islamic Revolution has said many times, “The days of hit and run are over.”
We are at a turning point in history, where the Zionist entity is met with the very reality of their extinction. Celebrations are erupting outside Al Aqsa Mosque and across the occupied West Bank. There were even fireworks at the iconic Milad Tower in Tehran after the Saturday night attacks.
The morale of the Islamic world is being restored, as Iran acts as the harbinger of regional stability.
This is the first hour alone on April 14, 2024. Operation True Promise is far from over, but the die is cast. As Iranian drones and missiles pierce the skies of Tel Aviv and the rest of Occupied Palestine, for the first time in nearly seven months, no Israeli warplanes fly over Gaza.
Shabbir Rizvi is a Chicago-based political analyst with a focus on US internal security and foreign policy.
(The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Press TV)
