Israel attacks Iranian military base; no serious damage, says Tehran

Tehran. An Iranian military air base near Isfahan was attacked this morning by Israel, Western media reported, while Iran’s state press indicated that the Islamic republic’s air defenses successfully shot down three drones, added that three explosions were recorded near Isfahan, and assured that its nuclear facilities remain intact.

At press time, Israel, the White House and the Pentagon did not confirm the attack on the Islamic republic reported by Western media, including ABC, NBC, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington PostBloomberg y The Guardianwhich cited US officials, after Iran fired – in retaliation for the Israeli bombing of its consulate in Damascus, resulting in 16 deaths on April 1 – last Saturday more than 300 drones and missiles, most of them intercepted by Israel and its allies, including the United States.

A source told Reuters that the United States was not involved, but that Israel had warned it would launch the attack.

Sources cited by CNN indicated that there were no nuclear facilities among the targets of the offensive.

The official Irna agency reported that there were no registrations great damage nor extensive explosions caused by the impact of a aerial threat.

Iran fired air defense batteries in several unidentified provinces after reports emerged of explosions near the city of Isfahan, Iran’s third largest city, 406 kilometers south of Tehran with a population of about 2 million people, and where there is a large air base, as well as sites linked to its nuclear program, such as the underground uranium enrichment plant in Natanz, repeatedly targeted by alleged attacks by Israel.

A senior US official told ABC, which was the first to report, that he was not going to do no comment at the moment on the attack on Iran and that the United States could not confirm reports of attacks on infrastructure in Iraq and Syria.

Iranian state television broadcast an on-screen alert acknowledging that there was a loud noise near Isfahan. Later, the official Fars agency indicated that there were three explosions near the Shekari military base, near Isfahan.

The Tasnim agency, citing reliable sourcessaid that the nuclear facilities in the province of Isfahan were completely safe.

The Iranian authorities then activated their anti-aircraft defenses in several provinces, and ordered the suspension of flights throughout the country, a restriction that had been lifted as of press time, Al Jazeera reported. The Fars agency said air defenses were activated in response to an object suspected to be an unmanned flying vehicle and that one of the possible targets was the army’s radar.

State television indicated that shortly after midnight Three drones were observed in the sky over Isfahan. The defense system was activated and destroyed these drones in the sky.

Hossein Dalirian, spokesman for Iran’s civilian space program, said on the social network

At the time of going to press, the city of Isfahan was calm and safehours after explosions were heard near the airport, the semi-official Mehr agency indicated.

Furthermore, the Tasnim news agency quoted informed sources that they said that there is no report of an attack from abroad against Isfahan or any other part of Iranreported Al Jazeera.

Infiltrators direct quadcopters

An Iranian analyst said on state television that the minidrones were piloted by infiltrated from the inside from the country.

The Israeli newspaper Haretz reported that bomb warning sirens were heard in some cities in Israel, which ultimately turned out to be a false alarm.

In Iraq, home to several Iranian-backed militias, residents of Baghdad reported hearing explosions, although no one confirmed the source of the noise. Meanwhile, an activist group in Syria reported an attack on army positions in the south of the country.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Tel Aviv would take your own decisions to respond to Iran’s attack over the weekend.

For its part, Iran also warned Israel that its country’s next response would be immediate and much more severeand did not rule out rethinking its nuclear doctrine.

Iran declared yesterday before the United Nations Security Council that Israel should be forced to put an end to any new military adventure against our interestswhile the secretary general of the organization, Antonio Guterres, maintained that the Middle East was in a moment of maximum danger.

Since last week, the United States and a large number of European countries have been calling on Israel not to respond militarily to Iran’s attack.

Meanwhile, analysts and observers have expressed concern about the risks of the war between Israel and Gaza spreading to the rest of the region. Israel’s assault on Gaza began after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people, according to Israeli counts. The Israeli military offensive has left more than 34,000 Palestinians dead in Gaza, according to the local Ministry of Health.

Iranian-backed groups have declared their support for the Palestinians, launching attacks from Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq.

The United States accepted Israel’s plan to launch an operation in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, in exchange for not carrying out a major retaliatory attack against Iran, the Qatari newspaper reported. Al-Araby Al-Jadeedciting anonymous sources.

They change reprisal for Rafah

The US administration accepted the plan presented by the (Israeli) occupation government regarding the military operation in Rafah, in exchange for not carrying out a large-scale attack against Iran.said the middle interlocutor.

According to Egyptian officials, preparations are being made so that Egypt can deal with possible impacts of the operation, most likely Gazans trying to cross into Egypt.

Four battalions of the Palestinian Hamas movement are believed to be stationed in Rafah along with more than a million civilians taking refuge there after fleeing fighting elsewhere in Gaza. Rafah is also believed to be where Hamas leaders are hiding, possibly with Israeli hostages.

Senior Israeli military and political officials, as well as Netanyahu, have stated that this operation is necessary to disarm Hamas.

Israel has launched an attack on Iranian territory, according to Western officials, in what appears to be a limited retaliatory action for Tehran’s attack with drones and missiles last week. Via Graphic News