The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps claimed Thursday that America’s anti-missile defense system would not be enough to protect Israel from Tehran, warning, “We will destroy you.”
IRGC Maj. Gen. Hossein Salami warned Israel against attacking Tehran in retaliation for the Oct. 1 ballistic missile barrage, saying that even the new Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system would fail to secure Israel’s safety and victory in the conflict.
“Do not rely on THAAD, they have limited capabilities,” Salami said, according to Iranian state media.
“You cannot win this conflict, we will destroy you,” he added.
The Defense Department shipped the THAAD missile defense system earlier this month following Iran’s Oct. 1 strike and growing tensions with the Islamic republic and its terror proxies.
The THADD system generally consists of six, truck-mounted launchers, 49 interceptors and radio and radar equipment, with 95 soldiers needed to operate.
The system would bolster Israel’s defense, with several US destroyers and battleships already in the Middle East to help deflect any more barrages from Iran. The ships had previously assisted in intercepting Iranian fire in April and October.
While Israel has the Arrow and David’s Sling anti-missile systems to intercept even ballistic missile fire from across the border, the systems are not designed to take on such a large volume of rockets like the ones Iran has fired.
And the more famous Iron Dome system is primarily designed to guard against shorter-range rockets fired from Gaza or Lebanon.
The need for the THAAD system also comes as Israel reportedly faces a shortage of interceptor missiles after more than a year of enduring barrages from Hezbollah and Hamas.
The IDF estimates that Hezbollah and Hamas have fired more than 26,000 rockets and drones over the border since Oct. 7, the vast majority of which have been taken out by Israel’s defense systems.
“Israel’s munitions issue is serious,” Dana Stroul, an former-US defense official, told The Financial Times “If Iran responds to an Israel attack, and Hezbollah joins in too, Israel’s air defenses will be stretched.”
