Iran’s state television reported explosions in the central province of Isfahan on Friday, while US media quoted authorities as suggesting Israel had launched retaliation strikes against its archrival.
Air defense systems were activated over multiple Iranian cities, according to state media, after the country’s main broadcaster reported hearing explosions near Isfahan.
Israel had already warned that it would respond after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel over a week ago in revenge for a deadly strike that destroyed Iran’s consular annex at its embassy in Syria, which Tehran blamed on its adversary.
Fears of a big regional spillover from the Gaza conflict have since grown.
There was no reply from Israeli or Iranian officials to the nighttime strikes, and the extent of the damage was unknown.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing “informed sources,” denied that Iran had been attacked from outside.
“Contrary to the rumours and claims” that have been circulated in international media, “there are no reports of an attack from abroad on Iran’s central city of Isfahan or any other part of the country,” Tasnim stated in a statement.
Three Iranian officials informed The New York Times that the attack was carried out by small drones, presumably launched from within Iran, and that radar sensors had not detected any unusual aircraft entering Iranian airspace.
Fars news agency reported “three explosions” at Qahjavarestan, near Isfahan airport and the 8th Shekari army airbase, while Iran’s space agency official Hossein Dalirian said “several” drones had been “successfully shot down”.
Dalirian stated on social media site X that there were “no reports of a missile attack”.
“Reports indicate that there was no major damage or large explosions caused by the impact of any air threat,” the official IRNA news agency stated.
No nuclear site damage
Brigadier General Siavash Mihandoost, the senior military officer in Isfahan, told state media that the loud boom was created by defense systems shooting at an aerial target rather than an explosion on the ground.
Tasnim stated that nuclear facilities in Isfahan are “completely secure,” and that the UN’s atomic watchdog has found no damage to Iran’s nuclear installations.
According to US media reports, Washington obtained early notice of Israel’s purported strike but did not endorse it or participate in its execution.
US President Joe Biden offered “ironclad” support for Israel but also urging it to “think carefully and strategically” before launching a strike against Iran that could spark a larger conflict.
NBC and CNN, citing people familiar with the subject and a US official, respectively, said that Israel had pre-notified Washington of the strike.
CNN quoted one official as saying the objective was not a nuclear site.
The White House and Pentagon issued no quick statements, while the Israeli military told AFP, “We don’t have a comment at this time.”
Strikes in Syria
Iran launched its first direct attack against its regional adversary, Israel, overnight on April 13.
Israel and its allies intercepted the majority of Iran’s 300 missiles and drones, killing no one.
Iran attacked in revenge for the April 1 strike on its Damascus consulate, which killed seven Revolutionary Guards, including two generals.
Iran-backed militias have supported President Bashar al-Assad’s army since the civil conflict in Syria began in 2011.
Iran is also a major supporter of the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has threatened to destroy Hamas following the October 7 incident that sparked the Gaza conflict, has stated that Israel “reserves the right to protect itself” against Iran.
While it made it plain that it would not participate in a retaliatory attack on Iran, Washington, Israel’s principal ally and military supplier, announced penalties against individuals and entities involved in the production of the drones used in the Iranian assault.
“We are holding Iran accountable,” Biden said on Thursday, following the European Union’s announcement that it will sanction Iran’s drone project.
Iran proclaimed the conflict over after firing missiles and drones toward Israel. However, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warned Tehran that any new strike on the Islamic Republic would make Israel “regret” it.
Mideast ‘on a precipice’
Until the drone and missile attack, Iran and Israel had been at odds for years, with Tehran accusing its foe of a series of sabotage attempts and assassinations against its nuclear program, which were carried out in collaboration with the US.
According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Israeli airstrikes also targeted a military installation in southern Syria.
The early strikes on Friday “targeted a Syrian army radar installation” between the provinces of Sweida and Daraa, according to Observatory Director Rami Abdel Rahman.
On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres offered a bleak picture of the Middle East scenario, saying that rising tensions over the Gaza war and Iran’s attack on Israel may lead to a “full-scale regional conflict.”
“The Middle East is on a precipice,” Guterres informed the Security Council.
“One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one error, could lead to the unthinkable,” he said, urging all parties to exhibit “maximum restraint.”
Following reports of explosions, oil prices rose by more than 3% in early Asian trade on Friday, while Tokyo’s Nikkei index fell the most in more than three years.
Citing allegations that Israel had struck inside Iran, the US Embassy in Israel advised its personnel and families to restrict their movements.