NEW YORK, June 16. /TASS/. The Israeli authorities underestimated Iran’s ability to regroup after losing high-ranking military commanders, Trita Parsi, vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, told CNN.
According to him, Israel believed it had "disrupted Iranian command and control" by killing multiple military commanders in its initial attack, but that idea was "quickly restructured."
"They (the Israelis) underestimated the Iranian ability to regroup," Parsi said, as quoted by CNN. He added that "Iranian missiles are successful in penetrating all layers of Israel’s air defense systems."
On June 14, the Iranian Defense Ministry announced that Israeli strikes had killed General Gholam-Reza Mehrabi, Armed Forces General Staff deputy for intelligence, and General Mehdi Rabani, deputy for operations. The Tasnim news agency reported, citing a statement by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), that at least seven high-ranking officers at the IRGC Air Force had also been killed.
Earlier, the Iranian authorities said that Israeli attacks had killed Chief of Staff of the country’s Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri, Commander of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters Gholam Ali Rashid, IRGC Commander-in-Chief Hossein Salami and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir Ali Hajizadeh.
Overnight into June 13, Israel kicked off Operation Rising Lion aimed against Iran’s nuclear program. Iran retaliated in less than 24 hours. Israel and Iran exchanged strikes again on June 14 and in the early hours of June 15. Both parties reported casualties and damage, and admitted that a number of facilities had been hit, but said the damage was minor.