Israel vs Iran: A Clash of Military Capabilities | Vantage with Palki Sharma

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hello namaskar this is first post and

you're watching a special edition of

vantage with me py Sharma

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Israel and Iran are s enemies they

promised to wipe each other off the face

of the the Earth and this is not an

exaggeration 2 weeks ago Israel struck

the Iranian Consulate in Damascus Syria

and now Iran has struck back it rained

some 300 missiles and drones on Israel

the damage was minimal but the message

was clear Iran won't take it lying down

and even though the word unprecedented

is abused in the news media a lot this

this one was truly unprecedented

Iran has never in the past directly

struck Israeli territory I guess the

million dollar question then is what

happens next will it blow into a bigger

war or will cooler heads prevail what

are netanyahu's options why did Iran's

Ayatollah have to strike who's military

force is superior can Joe Biden still

stay away from war why is this conflict

a headache for India how will it impact

you oil prices flights economy we'll

cover it all tonight also look at the

regional players who stands where

and why are Iran and Israel enemies in

the first place all this is more coming

up in the special edition of Vantage the

headlines

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first in India Prime Minister Modi

releases the bjp's manifesto ahead of

Elections the document titled prime

minister modi's guarantee focuses on

women the youth the poor and the farmers

the manifesto promises to implement the

uniform civil code and the citizenship

Amendment act it also guarantees that

India will soon be the third largest

economy

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Australian police identify the Sydney

Mall attacker the asent was a

40-year-old man suffering from mental

illness on Saturday he went on a

stabbing Rampage at a shopping center

killing six people and injuring many

others he was shot dead by a police

officer at the

sea Venezuela outraged over a new oil

lease of Guyana karakas rejects the

concession that gyana has given the US

oil firm Exon Mobile in 2015 oil was

discovered in these disputed Waters

since then the long-standing dispute

between Venezuela and Guyana has only

intensified Solomon Islands prepares for

polls under China Shadow the archipelago

is caught in a tussle between China and

the West its current prime minister has

vowed to strengthen bonds with Beijing

if reelected voting will take place on

the 17th of

April and at least 19 people killed in

the landslide in central Indonesia

several others are missing torrential

rains triggered this landslide slide in

the last few months the region has been

hit by several

landslides a number of Iranian missiles

fell inside Israeli territory causing

minor damage

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it's one of the worst feelings ever

knowing something will happen but not

knowing when Israel's experienced that

feeling for most of last week the

Iranian military was poised to strike

them but no one knew when when late last

night it happened hundreds of

projectiles were fired towards Israel

we're talking about a cocktail of

weapons Israel counted more than 300 of

them 170 drones 30 cruise missiles and

110 ballistic missiles they were fired

from different locations from Iran from

Syria from Iraq and from Yemen but

Israel was ready for it you see this was

a widely expected attack a tit fortat

response last week Israel had struck

Iran's Embassy in Syria they ended up

killing top Iranian commanders so Iran

was always going to respond which is why

Israel and its allies were ready

they say around 99% of the projectiles

were shot down some over the Iraqi and

Syrian airspace the rest over Israel it

filled the night sky with explosions

take a look

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now 300 is a big number but these drones

and missiles caused very little damage

around 12 people were injured and one

girl was killed plus a military base in

southern Israel was slightly damaged I

guess the obvious question is how it was

a joint effort by Israel's allies

especially the US and the UK both

countries had moved in important assets

to the region the US and the UK so when

Iran attacked they were ready fighter

jets took off from undisclosed bases in

the region they shot down most of the

drones before they reached the target

even Jordan took down a few projectiles

of course some did make it to Israel but

those were shot down by the air defense

system and there are many layers to it

but this time two of them were key the

Aros system which shoots down long range

missiles and the Iron Dome which shoots

down short range

Rockets both use the same concept track

a projectile fire ammunition at it and

blow it up in the sky it's costly but

clearly effective but good defense was

not the only reason for the limited

damage Iran's attack was half-hearted

they wanted to create a spectacle they

wanted to appease their domestic

audience but damage perhaps was not

their goal Iran's foreign minister

Minister has admitted this he says thean

had informed the us about the nature of

its

attacks we announced to the White House

in a message this morning that our

operations will be limited and minimal

with the aim of legitimate defense and

Punishment of the Israeli

regime which brings us to the reactions

the world is understandably worried

because damage or not this attack is

unprecedented in the past Iran has used

proxies to strike Israel like hisbah and

Hamas they have never used their own

military this this is the first direct

Iranian attack on Israel which makes it

very significant that was also the that

was also in fact reflected in the ground

reactions Iranians were over the moon

they took out bike rallies and marches

in thran and they called it a proud and

happy

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moment we hope this attack continues to

the point that Israel is

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destroyed we will never allow anyone to

violate Iranian territory any enemy

contemplating aggression against Iran

will meet the same fate as

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Israel so celebrations in Iran over in

Israel things were more

subdued some said they were used to the

rocket and missile barrage others were

more wary

actually all heard about the attack of

the of Iran but uh we're not afraid

because we went to to celebrate birthday

of our one of our friends and we already

got used to being attacked for the last

6

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months the situation is really

frightening because we're afraid of what

happens and all of uh bombing and

aircraft that are

coming so what next Iran says the

operation is over and they clearly mean

it if they wanted escalation this attack

would have looked very different plus

life is slowly returning to normal last

night most countries in the region had

shut their airspace but now they're back

up and

running even Israel has reopened its

airspace having said that the danger has

not passed far from it a lot depends on

Benin Netanyahu his War cabinet has been

asked to decide on a response the

question is what will they choose more

escalation or a truce Israel's own

allies do not want an escalation they

have condemned Iran's missile attack but

they may not support retaliation look at

the reaction so far Joe Biden had a

phone call with Netanyahu he called

Iran's attack Brazen he also promised

Ironclad support for Israel UK prime

minister Rishi sonak released a similar

statement he called Iran's attack re

less he also accused Teran of sowing

chaos in the region so did German

Chancellor Olaf Schulz he said the

attack was unjustifiable and

irresponsible so the West is firmly

behind

Israel maybe not on escalating the

conflict but definitely on condemning

Iran if this attack had been successful

The Fallout for regional stability would

be hard to overstate and we stand by the

security of Israel and The Wider region

which is of course important for us

security here at home

too this is an unjustifiable attack this

is a serious escalation of the situation

and it is in no way acceptable

understandable or tolerable fortunately

the Israeli Air Defense Forces largely

succeeded in fending off this attack

supported by the USA and partners also

in the Arab

world now we come to the other Camp

Russia and China two countries that have

closed relations with Iran Russia has

expressed concern over the attack they

have advised restraint but the statement

also mentions Israel strike on the

Iranian consulate so a bit of a

balancing act there same with China they

too have called for restraint but

Beijing says it is a spillover of the

Gaza conflict so China is saying fix

Gaza first the rest will fall in place

and what about India New Delhi has

called for deescalation and restraint it

has advised a return to diplomacy much

like Arab Nations Saudi Arabia wants the

UN security to take the lead it has

asked Israel and Iran to avoid

war but will they listen the next few

hours will be very important Israel has

requested a meeting of the United

Nations security Council it will be

convening in a few hours from now

meanwhile Biden has gathered the G7

leaders if they together put pressure on

Benjamin Netanyahu they can prevent an

escalation perhaps of course A minor

Fallout is still

expected Israel has already struck

Eastern Lebanon they're going out after

Iran's proxy the hisbah but that

conflict has not boiled over yet whether

it does or not depends on Israel's next

move now before we discuss what happens

next first let's tell you how this

attack took shape what happened behind

the scenes what were Iran's calculations

who did they speak to and what kind of

support did they

have now this enmity is a very very old

story but the latest episode began

exactly 2 weeks ago when the Israelis

struck the Iranian Consulate in

Damascus Iran immediately vowed to take

revenge this failure of the Israeli

regime in Gaza will definitely continue

as well as these desperate efforts like

what they did in Syria of course they

will be slapped for this

action now the question was was what

would be the scale of the attack or in

the ayatollah's words how hard would the

slap be Iran had a lot to consider the

last thing they can afford right now is

a direct war with Israel at the same

time they couldn't have done nothing and

we'll tell you why in a bit so on camera

Iranian officials started talking tough

and behind the scenes they began gaming

the scenarios and their assessment was

this Netanyahu was trying to pull them

into a wider regional conflict so they

reached out to other to other Regional

players

like Oman Iran contacted Oman and asked

them to deliver some messages to the us

and this is not a first Oman has often

acted as a go between for the Iranians

and the Americans so last Sunday the

Iranian foreign minister traveled to

Oman and he apparently delivered two

clear messages number one Iran will

respond to Israel's attack in a quote

unquote controlled and non- escalatory

way and number two Iran will deploy its

proxies for the mission

and that's exactly what they did the

missiles and drones were launched from

at least four different countries like

we told you Iran Iraq Syria and Yemen so

in a way the US had prior warning from

Iran and this communication was supposed

to be a

secret but the story got out the White

House faced questions it was asked if

the Iranians had made contact and

Biden's press secretary did not deny it

has Iran been in touch via

intermediaries with Washington to

indicate that when it responds to

Israel's attack on on its Embassy on its

Syrian Embassy that it will not escalate

we've been also very clear I'm not going

to get into public back and forth we

warn Iran not to use uh this attack as a

pretext to escalate further in the

region or attack us facilities or person

Personnel I'm going to be super mindful

not to to speak beyond that from here or

elaborate

further so neither confirmation nor

denial when you connect the dots this is

what you get the inputs from tan could

be shaping Washington's response

yesterday just hours before the Iranian

strikes Joe Biden spoke with Benin

Netanyahu the US president promis to

help Israel defend itself but if Israel

chooses to retaliate the Americans won't

support that operation that's what Biden

is said to have told Netanyahu so while

he's calling the support to Israel

Ironclad he also wants to make it

conditional Washington also expects

Israeli officials to inform them before

launching any

operation again the question is will nth

pay heed to this or will he launch a

Counterattack now I know Grand

statements never help but this one is

pretty spot-on the immediate future of

West Asia depends on one man Benjamin

Netanyahu the prime minister of Israel

this situation is tailor made for him

it's a chance to take the focus away

from Gaza it's also a chance to fulfill

his career-long go goal to strike deep

inside Iran to take out their strategic

assets including their nuclear sites

just one problem though his allies are

not on board both the US and the UK have

urged deescalation like I said Biden has

reportedly made his stand clear to

nanahu if you attack Iran we will not

help but where does that leave the prime

minister of Israel what options does he

have in public Netanyahu is defiant he

says Israel is ready for all scenarios

both defensive and offensive

citizens of Israel in recent years and

especially in recent weeks Israel has

been preparing for a direct attack by

Iran our defensive systems are deployed

we are ready for any scenario both

defensively and offensively the state of

Israel is strong the IDF is strong the

public is

strong so he's not ruled out retaliation

and you can see why netanyahu's

popularity has hit rock bottom the only

only thing keeping him in office is the

Gaza War but he's running out of places

to attack Israel has reached the

southernmost point of Gaza so he's got

to wind up the War sooner or later which

means he may have to step down and in

that context a conflict with Iran would

help him it would extend his time in

office but the trade-off would be huge

Israel's last attack was an was on

Iranian consulate so Tan's response was

lukewarm borderline performative but

what if Israel strikes Iranian cities

and Military

targets chances are the response won't

be

Luka if the Zionist regime takes any

action against the Islamic Republic

whether on our soil or in places

belonging to us in Syria or elsewhere

our next operation will be much larger

so what options does Netanyahu have we

can think of three of them the first is

to call it

Square Israel's First Strike killed top

Iranian commanders compared to that Iran

did not cause much damage so Netanyahu

can leave it at that a score of 1-1 the

second option is to Target Iranian

proxies now we've already seen attacks

on the hisbah in in Lebanon Israel can

keep doing that Iran has many assets and

Military sites in the region like in

Syria in Iraq and Yemen Israel could

choose to Target them instead it's

relatively low risk and finally option

number three hit back inside Iran this

would likely lead to a cycle of

reprisals in the worst case even War so

will benan Netanyahu risk it logic says

he won't but in the last 6

months we've not seen a lot of display

of that logic so we've also seen a lot

of confusing decisions some of which

make no strategic sense so a lot depends

on netanyahu's allies first of all how

much pressure can the West put on him

will they threaten to cut off military

aid same with Israel's neighbors a wider

War would affect all of them it would

disrupt oil trade via the straight of

hormos and Iran has always threatened to

close it and this would give them the

perfect excuse to do it around 30% 30

30% of global oil trade passes via this

route if Iran shuts it West Asia will

suffer that's enough reason for them to

urge deescalation

I guess it's all about appetite and

ambition Netanyahu has enough reasons to

claim a success he took out top Iranian

commanders he repelled a massive Iranian

attack plus he red rallied his Western

allies for most people that would be a

win but nanahu does not think like that

he's not just focused on Israel's

strategic goals he's also focused on his

political career which is why this is a

dangerous moment Israel's war cabinet is

meeting to discuss the way for forward

there are three members in this cabinet

one of them is Benny Gans he's a former

Defense Minister also a rival of

Netanyahu Gans says Israel will respond

at the right

time in the face of the Iranian threat

we will build a regional Coalition and

exact the price from Iran in the fashion

and timing that is right for us and most

importantly faced with the desire of our

enemies to harm us we will continue to

unite and become stronger

chances are there will be some sort of

response the only question is how far

will it

go now let's look at the other side and

that is Iran and their leader ayat Ali K

is Iran's Grand Ayatollah that's a

religious title it makes him the

ultimate Authority in Theocratic Iran

he's the country's top leader 84 years

old will be 85 this week he's been in

power since 1989 making him one of the

longest serving leaders in West Asia he

holds constitutional authority over the

Judiciary the Army the Revolutionary

guard and the state media so the buck

stops with this man and he is definitely

the one who sanctioned the attack on

Israel he cleared it last week he had

promised that Israel would be quote

unquote slapped and now he claims to

have delivered to the great joy of many

in Iran take a look at this

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we were extremely happy with this action

of the irgc and in fact we felt better

after a long time this was a help and

companionship with the oppressed people

of Gaza and the West

Bank this sadness and anger remained in

the hearts of all of us and we were

always waiting for this Revenge to be

carried out and for the Israelis to be

punished for their brutality and we

couldn't believe it when the news came

last

night that Banner with the missile you

see it is up in thran's Palestine Square

it has a message in both Farsi and

Hebrew in Farsi or Persian it says the

next lap will be harder in Hebrew it

says your next mistake will be the end

of your

state dual messaging and that's not a

coincidence it explains why the people

of Iran are Overjoyed even though

Israel seems relatively

unharmed Israel says the so-called slap

was ineffective they say 99% of Iran's

missiles and drones were shot down but

that's not what the people in Iran are

hearing

the statement announced the launch of

missiles and drones to Targets in

occupied lands that successfully hit the

targets he's saying they successfully

hit the targets the irgc that's Iran's

Islamic revolutionary guard core issued

a statement they like a parallel

military body their job is to defend

Iran from external and internal threats

and they report to the Ayatollah now

this body the irgc says it successfully

hit Targets in Israel and that's what

the Iranian State media is now reporting

so the people in Iran are being told

that quote unquote heavy blows have been

dealt to the Israelis especially the air

base in the Nev desert the nevatim air

base the base that was used to launch

the air strikes on the Iranian Consulate

in Syria and Israel admits that some

missiles did hit this base but they say

it was minor infrastructure damage in

fact the Israelis even released this

footage later purportedly showing the

base still in use

but of course the people in Iran do not

see any of this they saw the missiles

going towards Israel their news channels

are apparently quoting the special

forces the irgc saying that heavy blows

were dealt to Israel and so the people

in Iran think that aah K has given a

resounding response to the

Israelis and they were celebrating

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brings us to K's game plan he could not

afford to look weak a few years back the

Americans killed kasim suani last week

the Israelis killed Iranian generals the

regime in tan was already on the back

foot domestically the economy is in a

shambles their currency the real has H

an alltime low inflation is touching 50%

we've seen public protests in the last

few years in 2022 there was the anti-h

hijab protest where the people fought

back against the Iranian regime and it

was only quelled by Brute Force given

this backdrop and now the attack on

their Consulate in Syria K could not

afford to look

weak he could not AFF for the people of

Iran or for the Iranian proxies outside

to think that the regime cannot stand up

to Israel so in some ways last night's

attack was K's only option of course

that does not make it right and it will

have its own set of consequences K may

have stamped out some domestic Embers of

resentment but he may have just started

a fire around the

world and speaking of this fire let's

turn to the US where president Jo Biden

is in a

fix here's how Washington would see this

strike Iran America's biggest problem in

West Asia has openly attacked America's

closest friend in the

region the Iran has crossed a red line

it never dared to before and it happened

under Biden's

watch he should be sweating at the very

thought of having to explain this when

Biden heard about the attack he rushed

back to the White House he had a call

with Netanyahu and then issued a

statement and the last two lines of the

statement are the ones to note Biden

said his support for Israel was

Ironclad and that the United States will

stand with the people of Israel and

support their defense against these

threats from Iran it sounds like the

usual token statement but maybe the word

defense should be looked at closely

because apparently that's as far as

Biden is willing to go during the he

reportedly said that the Iranian attack

had been foiled and that Netanyahu

should quote unquote take the

win this doesn't mean Biden has washed

his hands off the matter he is planning

a diplomatic offensive along with the G7

and the US will of course back Israel at

the United Nations security Council meet

that has been called today but that

doesn't really give the same impact does

it Iran fired missiles Biden will wag

his finger and fire

sanctions it doesn't make him look look

too tough even if it may be the wiser

course of action to prevent an allout

war in West Asia but this defensive

strategy leaves Biden open to political

attacks at home which by the way have

already begun listen to this before

going any further I want to say God

Bless the people of Israel they're under

attack right now that's that's because

we show great weakness this would not

happen the weakness that we've shown

it's unbelievable and it would not

happened if we were in office you know

that they know that everybody knows

that Trump has made his move he has