JERUSALEM (AP) — Iran's supreme leader on Sunday dismissed any discussion of whether Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile attack on Israel hit anything there, a tacit acknowledgment that despite launching a massive assault, few projectiles actually made through to their targets.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's comments before senior military leaders didn't not touch on the apparent Israeli retaliatory strike Friday on the central city of Isfahan, even though air defenses opened fire and Iran grounded commercial flights across much of the country.
Analysts believe both Iran and Israel, regional archrivals locked in a shadow war for years, are trying to dial back tensions following a series of escalatory attacks between them as Israel's war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip rages on and inflames the wider region.
Khamenei, 85, made the comments in a meeting attended by the top ranks of Iran's regular military, police and paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, a powerful force within its Shiite theocracy.
“Debates by the other party about how many missiles were fired, how many of them hit the target and how many didn't, these are of secondary importance,” Khamenei said in remarks aired by state television.
“The main issue is the emergence of the Iranian nation and Iranian military's will in an important international arena. This is what matters.”
Iran launched hundreds of drones, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles that sought…
