In a potentially perilous development in the rapidly expanding Middle East conflict, Israel has executed a military operation within Iran.
Despite the escalating situation, Iranian government officials have been attempting to minimize the incident.
On Thursday, the United States received prior notification of Israel’s planned strike in the forthcoming days. However, CNN reported that a senior US official stated that the US did not support the response.
This strike occurred less than a week after Iran launched a series of drones and missiles at Israel. Iran’s Mehr news agency reported hearing multiple explosions around 4 am local time in the skies above the central city of Isfahan.
The report also mentioned that air defenses were activated in various regions of Iran. It was also reported that Israel had targeted Syria and Iraq, striking military airfields and a radar facility.
Hossein Dalirian, the spokesperson for Iran’s civilian space program, posted on X that several drones were intercepted and destroyed, but there was no confirmation of a missile attack on Isfahan.
In the meantime, Iran has halted flights at several airports, including those in Tehran and Isfahan. An unnamed US official cited by CNN stated that nuclear facilities were not targeted.
When asked about the reports of strikes in Iran and Syria, the Israeli army responded to AFP with, “We don’t have a comment at this time.” The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to confirm to the Times of Israel that Israel was behind the explosions heard in Isfahan.
On April 1, Israel attacked the Iranian consulate building in Damascus, Syria, resulting in the death of seven senior officers from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force. In response, Iran launched drones and missiles at Israel on April 13. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported that the majority of the projectiles were successfully intercepted, causing only minor damage on the ground.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Houssein Amir-Abdollahian, warned in a CNN interview that if Israel takes any further military action against his country, Iran’s response would be “immediate and at a maximum level.”
He stated, “If the Israeli regime commits the grave error once again our response will be decisive, definitive and regretful for them,” adding that a warning was sent to the White House via the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.
Despite the limited scale of the attack and Iran’s subdued response, it appears that diplomatic efforts to prevent a full-scale war have been successful since last Saturday’s Iranian drone and missile attack on Israel.
Iranian media and officials reported a small number of explosions, which they attributed to Iran’s air defenses intercepting three drones over the city of Isfahan. Interestingly, they referred to the incident as an attack by “infiltrators,” not Israel, thereby avoiding the need for retaliation.
An Iranian official informed Reuters that there were no plans to retaliate against Israel for the incident. The official stated, “The foreign source of the incident has not been confirmed. We have not received any external attack, and the discussion leans more towards infiltration than attack.”
Since an assumed Israeli airstrike in Damascus killed several Iranian officers, including a top general, the two longstanding adversaries have been on a collision course. Allies, including the United States, have been pushing hard to ensure that any further retaliation would not provoke a cycle of hostilities. This week, the British and German foreign ministers visited Jerusalem, and Western countries imposed stricter sanctions on Iran to appease Israel.
Itamar Ben Gvir, the far-right national security minister, expressed his dissatisfaction with Friday’s strikes by tweeting a single word: “Feeble!”.
On Friday, countries worldwide called for both sides to prevent further escalation. They emphasized the absolute necessity for regional stability and for all sides to exercise restraint.
