Israel's Iron Dome in action (illustrative)
Israel's Iron Dome in action (illustrative)Flash 90

Iranian cleric Mujtaba D'oh A-Nur does not believe the Iron Dome system will protect Israel when the time comes to enact it. The system will not affect Iran in any way – either defensively or offensively, he said.

“The illegal Zionist regime located in the heart of Muslim rule does not have faith in its security,” said A-Nur. “That is why it runs to the United States for defense and develops the Iron Dome and other defenses against missiles.”

Although the reports in Israel say that Iron Dome has been a success, A-Nur said that it was a failure, pointing to the examples of the 2006 war with Hezbollah, and the 2012 Pillar of Defense campaign. In the 2006 war, Hezbollah fired thousands of missiles at northern Israel. Iron Dome had not yet been developed.

In the 2012 battle with Hamas, the Gaza terror group did the same, but the Iron Dome system was able to prevent dozens of rockets from falling on Israeli cities, with most of the Hamas missiles falling in open areas outside cities.

In any event, he said, “this Iron Dome will not protect them from Iran's ballistic missiles. If the Zionist regime intends to attack Iran, the Iranian missiles will be fired at them and he Iron Dome will be useless.”

Iron Dome is one of three Israeli airborne defense systems designed to prevent missile attacks on Israel, with the other two, David's Sling and Arrow, designed to provide a defensive shield against medium and long-range missiles respectively. The Iron Dome system was used extensively in 2012 during Operation Pillar of Cloud, as Hamas shot hundreds of missiles at Israeli cities, with several aimed at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

The system successfully deflected several attacks that would have caused great damage in numerous cities had the missiles made their mark, Israeli officials said. According to American investigative reporter Mark Thompson, the lack of Israeli casualties in the war, compared to the number of missiles fired at Israel, indicated that "Iron Dome is the most-effective, most-tested missile shield the world has ever seen."

There are seven Iron Dome batteries in place around Israel and it is the Defense Ministry's goal to double that number by the end of 2015 to complete its vision of complete coverage, officials said.