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Experts have warned that Iran could have an unknown arsenal of EMPs and dirty bombs after Tehran threatened to attack Israel with “weapons never used before”.
Iran made its threat in an attempt to deter Israeli retaliation following an unprecedented missile and drone bombardment by the Islamic Republic.
“If such ‘never before seen’ weapons exist, they are likely to be larger and more sophisticated payloads and warheads compared to the missiles and drones they launched against Israel,” said Professor Gerald Steinberg, director of the NGO Monitor, based in Israel. Jerusalem.
The president of the Islamic Republic, Ebrahim Raisi, warned that the “smallest invasion” by Israel would bring a “massive and harsh” response.
Here, experts assess the potential arsenal at Iran’s disposal and the possible havoc these weapons could wreak.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi (pictured) warned during an annual military parade that Israel’s “smallest invasion” would bring a “massive and harsh” response, as the region braces for possible Israeli retaliation.
Missile launched during military exercise at undisclosed location in southern Iran
ELECTROMAGNETIC PULSE (EMP) WEAPONS
Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons use light, lasers, invisible microwaves and electromagnetic energy to cut off electricity, and experts say Iran has EMP in its arsenal.
The US military warned in 2018 that Iran was developing such weapons and the deadly consequences they could have if they were used, estimating that an EMP attack on US soil could kill millions of people in the total chaos they would create.
The goal of using EMP is to destroy enemy command, control, communications and computing, surveillance and intelligence capabilities without harming people or infrastructure.
Military and commercial aircraft would be degraded, bases would be cut off, and power and GPS would be cut off, making defense and counterattacks virtually impossible.
Asaf Romirowsky, Ph.D. Middle Eastern and Mediterranean Studies at King’s College London, said EMPs are one of Israel’s “main” concerns, because they would “leave the country defenseless.”
“The domino effect of an EMP attack would be that the Iranian Axis groups – Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis – would start shooting at Israel if they cannot retaliate,” said the expert, who now directs Academics for Peace in the Middle East. .
“The greatest threat has always been the use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), which is where the region fully understands the threat of Iran as the greatest destabilizing force in the region,” Romirowsky added.
Iranians walk past a huge anti-Israel billboard with images of Iranian missiles and a phrase that reads in Persian “Israel is weaker than a spider’s home,” in Tehran, April 16, 2024.
A photo provided by the Iranian military’s media office on Jan. 19, 2024, shows a missile launch during a military exercise at an undisclosed location in southern Iran.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS
According to another expert, among the never-before-seen weapons, chemical weapons, considered deadly weapons of mass destruction, could also be in Iran’s arsenal.
‘It is possible that the Islamic Republic has a supply of chemical weapons. “They were victims of these types of weapons in the 1990s, when Iraq used them in their war against Iran, so they know how lethal they are,” says Professor John Strawson, professor of Middle East studies at the University of East London.
Several Western governments have accused Iran of developing and maintaining its own chemical weapons arsenal in the past, which the country has consistently denied.
Professor Strawson said there would be “a lot at stake in using them” as firing chemical weapons would trigger a devastating response from Israel and its allies and “further weaken them politically in the region”.
But he believes that after last weekend’s Iranian attack, anything is possible.
“We have entered an even more unpredictable period in the Middle East,” the Middle East expert said after Iran’s failed missile attack damaged “its reputation with its representatives” after more than 99 percent were shot down.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Iran’s threats to use “weapons we have never used before” raise fears that its lackluster drone and missile bombardment could further push Tehran to develop nuclear weapons.
The Islamic Republic has several nuclear research sites, two uranium mines, a research reactor, and uranium processing facilities, including three uranium enrichment plants.
A 2007 UN report found that Iran had stopped a suspected nuclear weapons program in 2003, and a 2018 International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report said it had found no evidence of nuclear weapons activity after 2009. .
In 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (or Iran Nuclear Deal) along with countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China, imposing restrictions on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
An Iranian military truck carries missiles during a military parade as part of a ceremony marking the country’s annual army day in the capital Tehran on April 17, 2024.
A drone is launched during a military exercise at an undisclosed location in Iran, in this image obtained on August 25, 2022.
Iranian missiles displayed in a park on January 20, 2024 in Tehran
Iranian ‘Nazeat’ medium-range missiles are displayed during the annual Army Day celebration at a military base in Tehran, Iran, April 17, 2024.
However, the deal took a hit in 2018 when the United States, under President Donald Trump, withdrew and imposed new sanctions on Iran under a “maximum pressure” policy, essentially isolating Iran from the international financial system.
In November 2023, an IAEA report estimated that Iran’s uranium reserves were 22 times greater than the limit agreed to in the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal.
In December, the U.N. watchdog warned that Iran had increased the rate at which it is enriching uranium to 60 percent purity, near weapons-grade levels, and that it has enough enriched uranium for three atomic bombs.
Adham Mardini, a former Syrian diplomat and current professor at the University of Central Lancashire, said: “Iran could be accelerating its nuclear weapons programme, which could be used by Iran to develop a nuclear bomb to deter any Israeli attack on Tehran and its proxy groups.’