Iran did not anticipate Israeli attack before nuclear talks with US: Report

Iran's top out leaders had been preparing for a potency Israeli assail if atomic talks with the US failed, but made a key misjudgment – they did not expect Israel to strike before the next round of talks, scheduled for Sunday in Oman, The New York Times report said citing officials close to Iran's leadership.

They believed Israeli warnings of imminent strikes were propaganda aimed at pressuring Iran into nuclear concessions. As a result, planned safety measures were reportedly ignored.

On the night of the strikes, senior commanders, including Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) aerospace unit, stayed in their homes instead of seeking shelter. Hajizadeh and top aides were killed during an emergency war meeting at a Tehran base hit by Israel, The NYT report added.

By Friday evening, officials were still assessing the widespread damage from Israel’s operation, which struck at least 15 locations including Isfahan, Tabriz, Qom, Shiraz, Kermanshah, and Hamedan.

With Israeli PM Netanyahu warning that the offensive may last weeks and calling on Iranians to rise against their clerical rulers, fears of a wider regional conflict are mounting.

Israel sees Iran’s nuclear programme as an existential threat, claiming the strikes were necessary to prevent Iran from reaching the final stage of building a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its programme is peaceful, though the UN nuclear watchdog recently reported that Tehran had violated non-proliferation obligations.

Israel's strikes severely damaged Iran's defence systems, dismantling key radars and air defenses, crippling its ballistic missile access, and killing senior military leaders. 

Private messages obtained by The New York Times revealed Iranian officials expressing frustration over the failure to detect or stop the assault. “Where is our air defense?” and “How can Israel come and attack anything it wants, kill our top commanders, and we are incapable of stopping it?” some wrote.

The NYT further quoted Hamid Hosseini, a government-aligned member of Iran’s Chamber of Commerce, as saying that the attacks exposed critical weaknesses. “Israel’s attack completely caught the leadership by surprise, especially the killing of top military figures and nuclear scientists. It also exposed our lack of proper air defense and their ability to bombard our critical sites and military bases with no resistance,” he said.

Hosseini added that Israel’s ability to smuggle missile parts and drones into Iran hinted at a deep infiltration of Iran’s security apparatus.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who had been moved to a secure location, declared in a televised address: “They should not think they attacked and it is over. No, they started it. They started the war. We will not allow them to escape from this crime unharmed.”

In response, Iran launched multiple missile waves targeting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Earlier, Khamenei told Iran’s Supreme National Security Council that he wanted revenge but urged caution, saying he “did not want to act hastily,” according to officials familiar with the meeting, as quoted in the report.

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