On the fifth day of the U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran, new evidence suggests that Iran’s ballistic‑missile capabilities are weakening, according to a recent analysis by the U.S. think‑tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW). The campaign is designed to destroy Iran’s ballistic‑missile launchers before the U.S. and Israel exhaust their interceptor missile stocks. By eliminating launchers, the risk that the U.S. or Israel will run out of interceptors is reduced, because Iran’s ability to fire missiles is curtailed from the start. The marked decline in missile attacks on Israel and the United Arab Emirates indicates that the effort to destroy ballistic‑missile launchers has achieved “significant success” the ISW reports.
While these military operations continue, Iran’s Mullah regime is still working to select a successor for the deceased Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, with his son, Mohammad Reza Khamenei, widely seen as the favorite. On Tuesday, Israeli forces targeted several sites in Tehran, including the building of the Expert Assembly, to disrupt high‑level decision‑making. In response, Iranian leaders, according to the ISW, have already delegated authority to subordinate officials. The goal is to maintain state functions despite disruptions to central leadership.