Iran has reportedly moved its air defence systems just days after shutting down nuclear sites amid increasing fears an Israeli attack is a real "possibility."
Footage posted online appears to show the S300, S200, and Bavar-373 defence systems preparing for a possible Israeli attack on the Iranian capital. Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi confirmed yesterday Iran closed down its nuclear facilities last Sunday as tensions grew between the two countries.
However, it reopened just 24 hours later. But despite the facility reopening, there was no nuclear supervision as the agency had kept its inspectors away from the site until the situation between Israel and Iran was "completely calm."
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It comes as rising tensions between the two countries could engulf the whole Middle East into a war after Israel bombed Iran's consulate in Damascus on April 1, killing seven members of the Islamic Revolution’s Guards Corpse (IRGC). A high-ranking commander and his deputy were killed during the attack.
It led to Iran retaliating on April 13 by launching hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles at Israel in the attack. The Israeli military said that 99% of the drones and missiles were intercepted, by Israel’s own air defenses and warplanes and in coordination with a U.S.-led coalition of partners.
Israeli military chief Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi said on Monday that Israel is considering its next steps but confirmed that the Iranian strike “will be met with a response.” Mr Grossi admitted he was "concerned about the possibility" of Israel hitting Iran's nuclear sites and urged both sides to show "extreme restraint". He also expressed concerns about Iran's nuclear program.
“A bit more than a year ago, I went to Tehran and signed a joint declaration with the Iranian government indicating a number of actions that we will be taking together with Iran,” Mr Grossi said. “We started that process and that process was interrupted. And I have been insisting that we need to go back to that understanding that we had in March 2023.”
Back in September 2023, Iran withdrew the designation of multiple inspectors assigned to conduct verification activities under the Non-Proliferation Treaty Safeguards Agreement. “We are always urging, asking, and requiring Iran to cooperate with us in full,” Mr Grossi told Iran International’s Maryam Rahmati.
“It's not that we are not there, but we are not there at the level that we consider we should be.” A report published last month by the Institute for Science and International Security claimed that Iran is pressing ahead with building a nuclear site deep underground near Natanz.
“This Iranian nuclear weapons-making facility could be impervious to Israeli and perhaps even American bombs,” Foundation for Defense of Democracies CEO Mark Dubowitz said at the time. “Time is quickly running out, as Iran moves into a zone of nuclear immunity, to deny the regime permanent use of this deadly site.”