Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel was a strategic miscalculation. Can all-out war now be averted?

Close to midnight on April 13, hundreds of military drones were launched from both Iran and Iraq toward Israel. Subsequently, several waves of ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and rockets followed, originating from Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon – all directed at Israel.

This unprecedented multi-front attack on Israel constitutes a de facto declaration of war and marks the first direct assault against Israel from Iranian soil. However, despite the scale of the operation, it appears to be a tactical failure.

If Iran wanted to test Israel’s ability to deal with a multi-front aerial assault, than the Israeli score is almost a perfect 100. According to the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), 99% of the more than 330 weapons fired at Israel (at least 185 drones, 110 surface-to-surface missiles and 36 cruise missiles) were intercepted mostly over other countries.