Israel carried out an airstrike on Iran early Friday, US media reported, citing unnamed Israeli and US officials. The attack was the latest in recent retaliatory attacks between the two adversaries, but Tehran downplayed the incident and indicated it had no plans to respond.
The New York Times y The Washington Post They quoted Israeli officials as saying that Israel had carried out an airstrike in Iran. US officials were quoted by several media outlets as saying it was a missile attack.
The location or target of the apparent Israeli attack was not immediately identified. About an hour after the reports emerged, an Israeli military spokesperson contacted by the VOA He said he had no comment “at the moment.”
The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven meeting in Capri, Italy, warned of new sanctions against Iran for its drone and missile attack against Israeland urged the two parties to avoid an escalation of the conflict.
“The political objective is de-escalation,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, who chaired the three-day summit in Capri and had to adjust his agenda to address recent events, told reporters.
According to Tajani, the United States informed the foreign ministers that it had been “informed at the last minute” by Israel about the operation. “But there was no participation in the attack by the United States. It was mere information,” he added.
The United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, participated in that event, confirming that Washington was committed to Israel’s security, and when asked about the attack on Iran, he confirmed that the United States was not involved in any offensive operation.
“Israel was seen as being on the receiving end of an unprecedented attack, but our focus has been, of course, on making sure that Israel can defend itself effectively, but also on reducing tensions and avoiding conflict,” Blinken said.
Iran’s state news agencies IRNA and Fars said the Islamic republic’s air defenses were activated at a major air base and nuclear facility near the central city of Isfahan after sightings of drones.
The head of Iran’s space agency said air defense forces shot down several drones.
Iranian state media quickly attempted to downplay the incident, saying the Isfahan nuclear facilities were safe. They also said operations at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad National Airport had returned to normal on Friday, several hours after flights were suspended in an apparent response to the alleged Israeli airstrike.
It would be the latest salvo in a shadow war between Israel and Iran that has escalated significantly this month. Israel had warned Iran that it would retaliate for an unprecedented Iranian airstrike on Israeli territory last Sunday involving hundreds of drones and missiles. Israel said it intercepted almost all of the projectiles with the help of a coalition of Western allies and Arab partners.
Iran had warned, in turn, that any Israeli retaliatory attack would be met with a swift and harsher response. The Iranian offensive occurred after the destruction of its embassy in Syria and the death of several senior military commanders at the beginning of the month, in an attack that it attributes to Israel, but which it has neither confirmed nor denied.
The United States and other Western powers had urged the Israeli government to avoid escalating the conflict as it calculated its next move. U.S. officials had said they did not intend for U.S. forces to join any Israeli retaliatory actions.
Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, a Middle East security analyst at the Atlantic Council, told the VOA that the Biden administration understood Israel’s need to carry out retaliation to “save face” for Sunday’s Iranian attack.
“Any Israeli attack will require US participation, cooperation, support and ultimate backing, calling into question the accuracy of the Biden administration’s claims that it would not be involved in an Israeli retaliation,” Alkhatib said.
[El corresponsal de seguridad nacional de la VOA, Jeff Seldin, la jefa de la oficina de la VOA en La Casa Blanca, Patsy Widakuswara, y los servicios kurdos y persas de la VOA contribuyeron a este informe. También incluye información de The Associated Press y Reuters]
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