MOSCOW, March 29. /TASS/. US air forces are now compelled to come closer to Iran to drop bombs, exposing F-35 jets to enemy fire, former US Marine Corps intelligence officer and ex-UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter told TASS.
"The United States now has exhausted its supplies of long-range strike weapons so our military and our air forces are compelled to come closer to Iran to drop bombs. And we saw the other day, the Iranians are starting to engage our aircraft with surface air missile capabilities, and have even struck an F-35 for the first time in history," he pointed out.
According to Ritter, the US has been "very successful in blowing up points on the ground" but it has not degraded the Iranian defense industry, which was relocated and hidden. "Tragically, we are hitting targets that have nothing to do with the military capabilities of Iran. Striking this school in Minab and killing 175 children is an indication of that," the expert added.
"This is only going to get worse for the United States," he went on to say. According to the analyst, the Americans thought the Iran operation was going to be "a quick and easy victory," while Russia has demonstrated a more comprehensive understanding of combat operations in its special military operation in Ukraine.
"The Iranians have shown a level of professionalism and an ability to incorporate advanced military technologies that people should have been aware of if they had been following Iran. But it’s clear that we didn’t think they were capable of doing this," Ritter concluded.