Achi news desk-
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw soldiers fire air defenses at a major air base and nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an attack that came in retaliation for Tehran’s unprecedented drone and missile attack on the country.
No Iranian official has directly acknowledged the possibility that Israel attacked, and the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. However, tensions have been high since Saturday’s attack on Israel over its war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its own attacks against Iran in Syria.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, speaking at the G7 meeting in Capri, said that the US received information “at the last minute” from Israel about the attack in Isfahan.
U.S. officials declined to comment as of early Friday, but U.S. broadcasters citing unnamed U.S. officials said Israel carried out the attack. The New York Times quoted anonymous Israeli sources as claiming the attack, which occurred on the 85th birthday of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israeli politicians also made comments implying that the country had launched an attack.
Air defense batteries were fired in several districts because of reports of drones in the air, state television reported. Iran’s military chief, General Abdulrahim Mousavi, said the crews attacked several flying objects.
“The explosion this morning in the skies over Isfaia was related to air defense systems firing at a suspicious object that did not cause any damage,” Mousavi said. Others have suggested that the drones may be so-called quadcopters – small drones with four rotors that are commercially available.
This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC shows the dual-use civilian airport and air base in Isfahan, Iran, Thursday, April 18, 2024.
Planet Labs PBC via AP
Authorities said the air defense fired at a major air base in Isfayah, which has long been used by Iran’s fleet of US-made F-14 Tomcats – purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
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Tasnim also released a video of one of its reporters, who said he was in Zardanian’s southeastern region of Isfaya, near his “nuclear energy mountain.” The footage showed two different positions of anti-aircraft guns, and the details of the video corresponded with known features of the site of Iran’s uranium conversion facility in Isfayah.
“At 4:45 we heard shots. Nothing happened,” he said. “It was the air defense, those guys you watch, and there, too.”
The Isafia facility operates three small research reactors supplied by Sinai, and also handles fuel production and other activities for Iran’s civilian nuclear program.
Usafia is also home to sites related to Iran’s nuclear program, including the Natanz underground enrichment site, which has been suspected of repeated Israeli bombings.
State television described all nuclear sites in the region as “absolutely safe.” The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, also said that “there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites” after the incident.
The IAEA “continues to call for extreme restraint on the part of all and emphasizes that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military conflicts,” the agency said.
Iran’s nuclear program has advanced rapidly to produce enriched uranium at near-weapons-grade levels since the collapse of its nuclear deal with world powers after then-President Donald Trump pulled America out of the accord in 2018.
While Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, Western countries and the IAEA allege that Tehran operated a secret military weapons program until 2003. The IAEA has warned that Iran now possesses enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons if it chooses to do so — though. The American intelligence community claims that Tehran is not actively looking for the bomb.
The airlines Emirates and FlyDubai, based in Dubai, began diverting around western Iran around 4:30 am local time. They offered no explanation, although local warnings to pilots suggested airspace may have been closed.
Iran then established commercial flights in Tehran and its western and central regions. Iran later resumed normal flight service, authorities said.
Around the time of the incident in Iran, Syria’s state news agency, SANA, quoted a military statement that Israel launched a missile attack on an air defense unit in the south and caused substantial damage. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor, said the strike hit a government forces military radar. It was unclear if there were any casualties, the observatory said.
This area of Syria is directly west of Usafia, about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) away, and east of Israel.
Meanwhile in Iraq, where several militias supported by Iran are based, residents of Baghdad reported hearing the sounds of explosions, but the source of the noise was not immediately clear.
Friday’s incident in Iran also raised fears of a re-escalation of the conflict across Middle Eastern waters, which have seen attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen on shipping over the war in Gaza.
The British military’s UK Maritime Operations Center has warned ships in the area that they may see increased drone activity in the skies.
“There are currently no indications that a commercial vessel is the intended target,” it said.
The Houthis have launched at least 53 attacks on shipping, capturing one vessel and sinking another since November, according to the US Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have declined in recent weeks, as the rebels have been the target of a US-led airstrike campaign in Yemen and as shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat.
The apparent attack also briefly rattled energy markets, sending Brent crude above $90 before falling again in Friday trading.
However, state-run Iranian media sought to downplay the incident after the fact, broadcasting footage of an otherwise peaceful Isfahan morning. This could be intentional, especially after Iranian officials for days have threatened to retaliate against any retaliatory Israeli attack on the nation.
“As long as Iran continues to deny the attack and divert attention from it and no further harm is seen, there is room for both sides to climb down the escalation ladder for the time being,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and the North. Africa Program at Chatham House.
Associated Press reporters Naser Karimi, Mehdi Fathi and Amir Wahadat in Tehran, Iran; Bassem Meroah in Beirut; and Nicole Winfield in Capri, Italy; Contribute to this report.
