Iran's most effective weapon is missiles but Israeli air assault has left it struggling to hit back

It is a week since Israel began its largest attack ever on Iran, and in conventional military terms it is clear that Tehran is under extreme pressure.

- Dan Sabbagh

Israel has been able to achieve superiority over Iran's skies at extraordinary speed, within hours of launching its surprise assault. Its military claimed on Monday to have knocked out 120 Iranian air defence systems, through a mixture of air and drone strikes, around a third of Tehran's pre-war total.

In response, Iran's most effective weapon has been its stock of high-speed ballistic missiles, initially estimated at about 2,000 by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) at the outset of hostilities last week.

But the heavy targeting by Israel of launch sites in western Iran, in underground bases such as at Kermanshah - coupled with Israel's grimly effective targeted killing of Iran's top military commanders - has left Iran struggling to respond militarily and presented a significant threat.