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TEHRAN: Iran has replaced the air defense systems damaged during its 12-day war with Israel last month, a senior army general said on Sunday according to state media.
Israel launched an unprecedented surprise bombing campaign against Iran in mid-June, prompting Tehran to respond with drone and missile attacks.
Israel’s strikes dealt a significant blow to the Islamic republic’s air defenses, which were repeatedly activated in the capital Tehran and across the country throughout the war.
“The Zionist enemy sought to destroy Iran’s defense capabilities, and some of our defense systems were damaged in that war,” army operations chief Mahmoud Mousavi was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
“The damaged defense systems have now been replaced,” he added.
Iran’s air defense network includes systems like the domestically built Bavar-373 and Khordad-15, designed to counter missiles and aircraft. Iran also installed Russia’s S-300 air defense systems in 2016.
The war with Israel killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, while Iranian fire killed at least 28 people in Israel, according to authorities in each country.
Israel’s attacks targeted military infrastructure and nuclear facilities across Iran.
On June 22, Israel’s ally the United States also carried out unprecedented strikes on Iranian nuclear sites at Fordo, Isfahan and Natanz.
The full extent of the damage to Iran’s nuclear program remains unclear.
US President Donald Trump has insisted the sites were “completely destroyed,” but US media reports have cast doubt on the severity of the damage.
On Friday, NBC News, citing a military damage assessment, reported that only one of the three sites was mostly destroyed.
A ceasefire between Iran and Israel has been in effect since June 24.
After the truce was announced, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to prevent Iran from rebuilding its nuclear capabilities, raising the prospect of renewed conflict.
Earlier in July, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel was formulating a plan to “ensure that Iran cannot threaten Israel again.”
Katz said the military had to maintain its “air superiority over Tehran, the ability to enforce restrictions on Iran and prevent it from rebuilding its capabilities.”

CAIRO: The Egyptian interior ministry on Sunday said it has uncovered a plot by the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood group aiming to target security and economic facilities.

According to a press statement by Egypt’s Interior Ministry, elements who plotted the attacks were linked to the so-called Hasm Movement, which was affiliated with the banned Muslim Brotherhood.

The ministry said it has information that the militant group was planning to revive their activities in Egypt and commit hostile operations. Hasm plotted to push one of its fugitive members to infiltrate the country via a border state in order to commit “hostile operations targeting security and economic facilities in Egypt,” it added. 

The statement said Egypt’s National Security sector was able to identify the Hasm leaders behind the plan. It also reported that some members of Hasm were targeted in a security operation in Cairo’s Boulaq neighborhood. 

It said when security forces raided their militant hideout, the suspects began firing randomly at the forces and the area surrounding the building, prompting the forces to deal with them. 

The exchange of fire killed two militants and a citizen, who happened to be passing by and had succumbed to his injuries as a result of the random militant gunfire.

A police officer was also injured while trying to rescue the citizen.

The ministry revealed that this coincided with the movement’s latest video on social media, showing its members training in a desert area of a neighboring country, while threatening to carry out terrorist attacks in Egypt. 

The group is labelled as a terrorist entity in both the United Kingdom and the United States.