The IDF deemed “critical” targets as those that immediately threatened Israel, such as ballistic missile industry targets, as well as targets that were at the heart of the mission goals of the war.
Of the IDF’s critical and essential pre-war Iran targets, 100% will have been destroyed by Wednesday, the military said on Tuesday.
This 100% of the top two most important categories of pre-war targets is part of the IDF having destroyed around 60-70% of the total of pre-war targets in the Islamic Republic.
“Critical” targets were those that immediately threatened Israel, such as ballistic missile industry targets and targets that were at the heart of the mission goals of the war, such as the smaller remaining nuclear-related targets.
“Essential” targets were a level down, and represented the wider Iranian military industrial complex, which might not present an imminent threat to Israel during this conflict but which were viewed by Iran as essential to maintain its various military and weapons apparatuses at an effective level of operation.
An example would be certain satellite launching and satellite attacking platforms and research, which are crucial capabilities for firing long-range weapons and for contending with Israel’s strategic advantage in the satellite sphere.
The other 60-70% of total pre-war targets relate to aspects of the Iranian military which are part of its long-term non-strategic operations, but they neither present an imminent threat to Israel nor do they serve a specific essential purpose in the military industrial supply chain for the Islamic regime to field or produce specific long-term strategic weapons.
When pressed whether the IDF could end the war at this point in terms of having achieved its war objectives against Iran’s military, military sources did not reject the idea but added that if the war continued, the IDF could field additional economic and operational targets which would further harm Iran’s military and economic power and standing.
Despite all of the above, the IDF has not been able to completely stop Iranian ballistic missile fire and expects that the regime can maintain such missile fire at a level of 5 to 20 missiles daily for an extended period.
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