DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — An obvious Israeli drone attack on Iran prompted troops to fire air defenses at a primary and nuclear air base Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an attack in retaliation for Tehran’s unprecedented drone. missile attack on Israel.
No Iranian official has expressed the option that Israel has attacked, and the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. However, tensions have risen since Saturday’s attack on Israel, amid its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its own measures. targeting Iran in Syria.
Speaking at the G7 assembly in Capri, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the United States had received “breaking news” from Israel about the Isfahan attack. Secretary of State Antony Blinken denied this, but said, “We have been affected by any offensive operation. “
The blatant attack took place on the 85th birthday of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israeli politicians made comments suggesting that their country had introduced an attack.
Air defense batteries fired in several provinces following reports of drones in flight, state television reported. Iran’s army commander, Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, said the crews targeted several flying objects.
“This morning’s explosion in the sky over Isfahan is similar to the firing of air defense systems at a suspicious object that did not cause any damage,” Mousavi said. Others have warned that drones could simply be small, commercially available, so-called quadcopters. It had four-rotor drones.
Officials said air defenses fired on a main air base in Isfahan, which has long been home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats, purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The Tasnim news agency published a video of one of its journalists, who claims to be in the Isfahan region, southeast of Zerdenjan, near its “mountain of nuclear energy. “The images showed two other anti-aircraft gun positions and the main points. of the video matched the known features of the site of Iran’s uranium conversion facility in Isfahan.
“At 4:45 p. m. , we heard gunshots. Nothing happened,” he said. “It’s the air defense, the guys you’re looking at, and over there as well. “
The Isfahan facility operates three small reactor studies in China, as well as fuel production and other activities for Iran’s civilian nuclear program.
Isfahan is also home to sites linked to Iran’s nuclear program, its underground Natanz uranium enrichment site, which has been the target of alleged Israeli sabotage attacks on several occasions.
State television described all nuclear sites in the region as “completely safe. “The U. N. ‘s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, also said there is “no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites” after the incident.
The IAEA “continues to call on everyone to exercise excessive restraint and reiterates that nuclear facilities will never be the target of military conflict,” the firm said.
Iran’s nuclear program has progressed toward generating uranium enriched to levels close to nuclear weapons since the collapse of its nuclear deal with global powers after then-President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018.
While Iran insists its program is for nonviolent purposes, Western countries and the IAEA claim that Tehran ran a secret military weapons program until 2003. The IAEA has warned that Iran now has enough enriched uranium to build nuclear weapons if it chooses to do so. even though the U. S. intelligence network maintains that Tehran is not actively pursuing the bomb.
Dubai-based Emirates and FlyDubai airlines began diverting to western Iran around 4:30 a. m. local time. They gave no explanation, local warnings to airmen warning that the airspace would possibly have been closed.
Iran then suspended its advertising flights in Tehran and parts of its western and central regions. Iran later restored flight service, the government said.
At the time of the incident in Iran, Syria’s official news firm SANA quoted an army claiming that Israel had carried out a missile attack on an air defense unit in the south of the country, causing damage to curtains. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the attack hit a military radar for government forces. It is unclear if there were any casualties, the SOHR said.
This domain of Syria is located west of Isfahan, about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles), and east of Israel.
Meanwhile, in Iraq, where several Iranian-backed militias are based, citizens of Baghdad reported hearing sounds of explosions, but the source of the noise was quickly unclear.
Friday’s incident in Iran also raised concerns about an escalation of fighting in the Middle East seas, which have prompted attacks by Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels on warships in Gaza.
The British Army’s Commercial Maritime Operations Centre warned ships in the domain that they would possibly see increased drone activity in the skies.
“Lately there is no indication that advertising ships are the target,” he wrote.
The Houthis have launched at least 53 attacks on ships, captured one ship and sunk it since November, according to the U. S. Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have slowed in recent weeks as rebels have been targeted in a U. S. -led crusade of airstrikes in Yemen and shipping traffic in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat.
The obvious attack also spooked energy markets, pushing benchmark Brent crude above $90 before retreating on Friday.
However, Iranian state media tried to downplay the incident after the fact, broadcasting images of a non-violent morning in a different way in Isfahan. This may simply be intentional, especially after Iranian officials have threatened for days to retaliate against any Israeli retaliatory attacks. about the nation.
“As long as Iran continues to deny the attack and divert attention from it and no movement is seen, either side has a chance to descend the ladder of escalation for now,” said Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Program at Casa Chatham.
Associated Press writers Nasser Karimi, Mehdi Fattahi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran; Bassem Mroue in Beirut; and Nicole Winfield in Capri, Italy; contributed to this report.