Israel’s small-scale attack on Iran, in retaliation for last Saturday’s attack, served as a warning.
It attacked an Iranian airbase in Isfahan, very close to Iran’s nuclear facilities, with officials sending a message that Iran’s nukes are not safe.
Tehran downplays the incident, saying only three drones were shot down, without naming Israel as responsible, while the United States claims it had no involvement.
Citing “senior US military sources”, Fox News reports however that the target of last night’s alleged Israeli attack on Iran was a military base in Isfahan near Natanz and not the nuclear facilities themselves. “The Israelis hit what they intended to hit,” a source told Fox News, adding that there was one main target that was hit multiple times and that Iran’s Russian air defense system proved ineffective.
The targets of the attack included air defense systems at the military base, which is used to protect nearby nuclear facilities, Fox reports. The IDF used missiles and drones in the strike, not manned aircraft, he adds.
No Iranian official immediately acknowledged the possibility of an Israeli strike, and the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. But regional tensions are high following Saturday’s attack on Israel amid its war once morest Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its own strikes targeting Iran in Syria.
Speaking at the G7 summit in Capri, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said the US had received “last minute” information from Israel regarding the Isfahan attack. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken did not dispute this, but said: “We were not involved in any aggressive operation.”
The apparent attack took place on the 85th birthday of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Israeli politicians also made comments implying that the country had launched an attack. The Tasnim news agency, however, does not let go unnoticed the one-word tweet “Weak”, with which the far-right Israeli minister, Ben Gvir, commented on the strike.
Breaking with Tel Aviv’s longstanding policy of not confirming such attacks, Gvir caused outrage in Israel’s political scene. “With an unforgivable one-word tweet, Ben Gvir managed to mock and embarrass Israel from Tehran to Washington,” said opposition party leader Yair Lapid.
And the Israeli media presents the attack in a soft way and in the absence of official announcements they refer to the statements of the Americans. The world remains divided, with some calling for a stronger response and others fearing that the risk of widespread conflict has not passed.
At the same time, the commander of the Iranian army, General Abdulrahim Mousavi, said that the crews targeted several flying objects. “This morning’s explosion in the sky of Isfahan is related to the firing of air defense systems once morest a suspicious object that did not cause any damage,” Mousavi said. Others have claimed that the drones may be so-called quadcopters – four-wheeled, small drones that are commercially available.
The Isfahan air base has long been home to Iran’s fleet of US-made F-14 Tomcats – purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The Isfahan facility operates three small research reactors supplied by the Chinese and handles fuel production and other activities on Iran’s civilian nuclear program.
Isfahan is also home to facilities related to Iran’s nuclear program, including the underground Natanz enrichment facility, which has repeatedly been the target of suspected Israeli sabotage attacks.
State television described all individual facilities in the area as “absolutely safe”. The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, also said there was “no damage to Iran’s nuclear facilities” following the incident. The IAEA “continues to call on everyone to exercise extreme restraint and reiterates that nuclear facilities should never be the target of military conflict,” the agency said.
Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began making diversions around western Iran at regarding 4:30 a.m. local time. They gave no explanation, although local warnings to aviators indicated the airspace may have been closed. Iran then banned commercial flights to Tehran and parts of its western and central regions.
Meanwhile in Iraq, home to a number of Iran-backed militias, residents of Baghdad reported hearing the sounds of explosions, but the source of the noise was not immediately clear. Friday’s incident in Iran also raised concerns regarding a re-escalation of conflict in the Middle East seas, where there have been attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels once morest shipping because of the war in Gaza. The UK military’s commercial maritime operations center has warned ships in the area that they might see increased drone activity in the sky.
The apparent attack also briefly spooked energy markets, sending Brent crude above $90, before falling once more in Friday trading. However, Iran’s state media tried to play down the incident in hindsight, showing footage of an otherwise peaceful morning in Isfahan. That might be appropriate, especially since Iranian officials have for days threatened to retaliate once morest any Israeli retaliatory attack on the nation.
In a poll conducted following Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu appears to be recovering and closing the gap with frontrunner Benny Gantz to 5 points.
The symbolism behind the attack
Isfahan province in central Iran may have been the focus of Israel’s attack, but the symbolism lurks elsewhere. It may be that Isfahan province is a very important area for the Iranians, because there are many nuclear facilities with 3,000 scientists and also military facilities where they also manufacture ballistic missiles, but the symbolism is that Natanz is very close, where the factory is located the Iranians are enriching uranium, the so-called “nuclear mountain”. It was the message from the Israelis that if they want us to hit even Natanz, they can. and the symbolic blow.
A second strike is in northern Iran, in Tabriz which is not confirmed by either Tehran or the West. But this area is important, because it is where they store ballistic missiles. So it appears from the two targets that they were probably related to last Saturday’s attack by Iran once morest Israel.
One confirmed strike is in Daraa, Syria. The reason has not been made known, but it is exactly in the straight line with Isfahan. There, at that base, the Syrians have air defenses, anti-aircraft missiles, and maybe they hit it to make or a distraction, or to prevent the Syrians from using their air defenses and shooting down the Israeli missiles.
Now, as for the weapons used, Iran insists that it was only three drones, which indeed took off from inside its own territory and were shot down by air defenses. But analysts categorically deny this and say that only Israeli missiles might be used for this attack.
The next day in Israel
The next move from both sides seems to be calm, and this is because Israel and Iran secured through this development something they wanted. So no one predicts that there will be any continuation at the moment, with the sole exception of course of the Rafa issue, which once more today is not clear if there will be anything new, reports the ERTNews envoy in Tel Aviv, Kostis Constantinou.
Tel Aviv, however, seems relieved. The whole city is nothing like the relaxed yet restless image of the city we saw yesterday. People are relieved. It’s out on the streets, it’s effectively the last day before the Easter holidays, which officially start on Monday, but practically start today.
Iraq also expressed deep concern over the attack targeting the central Iranian city of Isfahan, warning of the dangers of military escalation, the Iraqi state news agency reported.
The role of the US – Satisfaction in Washington
Washington has every reason to be relatively satisfied, as it had demanded that this attack be small-scale, which it was. The question now is where exactly this cycle of attacks ends and how further escalation can be avoided.
Washington at all levels is expected to engage in a new marathon of diplomatic contacts, especially with allies in the Middle East, to ensure restraint on the part of Tehran and certainly Israel, not only in the short term, but also in the long term.
The biggest concern right now in the US capital is that Israel-Iran relations have now clearly entered a new era, as something similar might happen once more on either side at any time. And this is very dangerous, reports the correspondent of ERTNews in the USA, Lena Argyri.
The two sides measured strengths, reflexes and limits
It is striking that both countries behave as if nothing important happened in the morning. This in itself shows that for the time being they want to distance themselves from the risk of a generalized regional conflict in the Middle East, reports the head of the International News Department of ERTNews, Anna Papasotiriou.
If Tehran admits Israel’s involvement, it must follow through on the threat of retaliation, and if Israel takes responsibility it will be like provoking the retaliation. So they tested each other’s limits, restored their deterrent power, so they close the cycle of retaliation until next time. Why have they now imposed a new geopolitical reality in the Middle East with these unprecedented attacks that they exchanged on their lands that, the risk of ignition now exists even by mistake. Especially as long as the intractable Palestinian issue remains unresolved.
However, it is interesting that the suffocating diplomatic pressures on Israel partially paid off. Washington moved from “don’t do it” to “limit the risk of escalation”. He accepted Israel’s inviolable principle that it decides on its own security. And this shows the limits of Washington’s influence.
The ground attack on Rafah is likely to be the next big test in their relationship, because the White House is not yet convinced that it can be done without worsening the humanitarian disaster. But it is difficult for Washington to do something that would harm the interest of its strategic ally in the Middle East. We also saw it with the veto in the Security Council once morest the recognition of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations and the $14 billion worth of weapons it sends to Israel.
In addition, several rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at the southern city of Sderot. One rocket was intercepted over Sderot by the Iron Dome air defense system, while several others fell in Gaza, the IDF said. The attack set off sirens in Sderot and surrounding towns.
Source: ertnews
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