Former U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) Commander Gen. Frank McKenzie said Iran’s attack on Israel on Saturday was a “maximum effort” and not something the country could replicate again.
McKenzie made the remarks during a Sunday interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation” while giving his assessment of the Iranian strike, which included 185 one-way suicide drones, 110 surface-to-surface missiles, and 36 cruise missiles.
“This was a big attack by Iran,” he said. “I think this was as close to a maximum effort as they could generate. And I’ll illustrate it in this way. Iran has over 3000 missiles of various types scattered around the country. They have about 100 — probably a little more than that — missiles, largely in western Iran, that can target Israel. Based on what the Israelis are saying, I believe they fired most of those weapons at Israel. The Israelis, obviously, were able to intercept most of them. Iran could not replicate last night’s attack tonight, if they had to.”
McKenzie noted that Iran used cruise missiles and drones to create a “multi-dimensional” threat in an attempt to overwhelm Israel’s air defenses.
“It was a maximum effort. Now the Iranians are going to backtrack and talk about moderation. There was nothing moderate about this attack,” he said. “It was indiscriminate. And it was designed to cause casualties. So we should just consider that, as we take a look at it.”
“Now the Iranians have to sit back and consider: what they considered their most important capability, their ballistic missiles, their drones, and their- and their cruise missiles, have now been employed in a major combat test,” he concluded. “And frankly, that test has failed. So I think Israel this morning is now much stronger than they were yesterday. And Iran is relatively weaker than it was yesterday.”
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WATCH:
Iran's drone and missile attack on Israel "was close to a maximum effort as they could generate," former CENTCOM Chief Ret. Gen. Frank McKenzie says.
"Iran could not replicate last night's attack tonight if they had to…Iran is relatively weaker than it was yesterday." pic.twitter.com/VTjsJvRyvK
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 14, 2024