The dire, and to some extent helpless, situation that Iran currently finds itself in is the direct result of faulty strategic vision on part of the Iranian leadership. Creating and using proxies to lob rockets/missiles/drones here and there at the enemy can only serve as a tool under a certain hostility level. When the bar has been raised and it comes to a open war, such proxies and tools turn out to be at the mercy of the enemy in the absence of an effective air defense.
Any fighting force must have an effective air cover or else it cannot sustain its operational capabilities for long. That’s what is happening with Iran now. Israel has complete air dominance in Syria, Lebanon, Yemen. In the absence of an air force or at least a modern AD system, Israeli military planes are running sorties whenever and wherever they want over these countries. Hiding in tunnels is not of much help either for Iranian proxies or military personnel deployed there with those proxies.
It's not just bombing runs that Zionists are carrying out with impunity. They reportedly have even used slow moving large planes without being challenged to launch EMP attacks on Lebanon and who knows on Syria too (exploding TV sets, car batteries, and other electronic/electric devices) .
A regular air force has no equivalent in the form of drones, missiles, and rockets. All these weapon systems have their own role in a war fighting effort. Only fools can overlook some of those specific roles and then ultimately find themselves in a completely helpless situation.
Having said that, we don’t want our Iranian friends end up in such a situation. We wish all the success for them. But building an air force in the nick of time is almost impossible. However, all Muslims states must provide whatever possible to help them out against the war criminal Zionist's onslaught. after all, helping the Palestinians against the Zionist war crimes is the farth (compulsory duty) for all Muslims of all sects.