Iran’s air defense has “successfully shot down” several small drones, according to the Iranian space agency.
According to a senior commander in the Iranian army, no damage was caused following air defenses were activated in Iran. The noise that was heard in the city of Isfahan at night was due to the air defense, he said. It was not a widespread attack, the state news agency IRNA reported Friday morning. The US was not involved but was informed by Israel, an insider said.
Reports of explosions
State television reported that explosions were heard near the city of Isfahan in the center of the country. US media reports that Israel has launched the retaliatory strike.
Iranian media reported an explosion near Isfahan on Friday night amid dangerous tensions in the Middle East. The US broadcaster ABC News, citing an unnamed US government official, said that Israeli missiles had hit a target in Iran. The White House and the Pentagon had no immediate comment.
Drones destroyed
Iranian state television later said that three drones had been discovered in the sky over Isfahan, that the air defense system had been activated and that the drones had been destroyed. There was no explosion on the ground.
Important facilities for the Iranian defense industry are located in Isfahan. The country’s largest nuclear research center is also located in the cultural city. According to the radio, there was no danger to the nuclear facilities there.
Flights diverted
Several flights were diverted through Iranian airspace, CNN said. Mehr news agency reported that flights to Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz, as well as airports in the west, northwest and southwest, had been suspended.
According to the Israeli military, warning sirens are wailing in northern Israel.
Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and rockets on Sunday night. The background was a suspected Israeli-led attack on the Iranian embassy compound in the Syrian capital Damascus, in which two generals of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were killed at the beginning of April. Israel had announced that it wanted to respond to the Iranian attack.
