Israel has carried out a military strike inside Iran, a US official told on Friday, a potentially dangerous escalation in a fast widening Middle East conflict that Iranian government officials have so far sought to play down.
Iran’s air defense systems were activated in the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz after three explosions were heard close to a major military airbase near Isfahan, state media reported early Friday morning.
Maj. Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, the commander-in-chief of Iran’s army, said the explosions in the sky above Isfahan were related to anti-aircraft systems shooting at what he called a suspicious object, which did not cause any damage, Iranian state news IRNA reported. Other Iranian officials said air defenses intercepted three drones and there were no reports of a missile attack.
Iran has not identified the source of the strike.
The United States was given advance notification Thursday of an intended Israeli strike in the coming days, but did not endorse the response, a second senior US official said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken later confirmed the US “has not been involved in any offensive operations,” but was focusing on Israel’s defense and de-escalation.
The US was “informed at the last minute” about the attack on Iran, Italy’s foreign minister Antonio Tajani said at a news conference to conclude a meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) nations in Capri, Italy, which Blinken also attended.
Multiple state-aligned news agencies reported that sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program were secure and the attack appeared to be limited in scope.
Read More: Israel attacks Iran with missiles
Iranian media appeared to further minimize the scale of the attack on Friday, broadcasting calm scenes from Isfahan showing residents walking through parks and visiting landmarks. Traffic was reported as normal and the airport was also reported to have reopened after flights were briefly canceled or suspended early Friday.
Reports of Friday’s strike came hours after Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian told that if Israel takes any further military action against Iran, its response would be “immediate and at a maximum level.”
“If the Israeli regime commits the grave error once again our response will be decisive, definitive and regretful for them,” he added, noting that this warning had been communicated to the White House via the Swiss Embassy in Tehran.
Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.