World leaders called for calm Friday following reported Israeli retaliation once morest Iran added to months of tensions over the war in Gaza, with Iranian state media reporting explosions in the central province.
Israeli officials made no public comment on the attack and Iranian officials played down the significance of the attack.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the Israeli micro-drones used in the operation did not cause any deaths or damage, calling it a “desperate attempt to gain victory from their repeated defeats”.
But the specter of direct hostilities between the arch-rivals in the Middle East is rocking world markets with oil, gold and equity prices fluctuating.
Israel had warned of retaliation following Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones nearly a week ago in retaliation for a deadly April 1 airstrike – widely blamed on Israel – that leveled the Iranian consulate in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards.
A senior source in the US Congress told AFP there had been an Israeli retaliatory strike but declined to provide any details, saying the attack was classified.
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After state television said explosions were heard near the city of Isfahan, Iran activated its air defense system in several cities, official media reported.
An unnamed Israeli official told The Washington Post that the “strike” was in retaliation for Iranian drone and missile attacks and was intended to signal that Israel was capable of carrying out attacks on Iranian territory.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing “informed sources”, denied Iran had been attacked from outside.
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Contrary to rumors and claims made in foreign media, there were no reports of attacks from abroad, Tasnim said.
Three Iranian officials told The New York Times that a small drone carried out the “strike,” likely launched from inside Iran, and that radar did not detect the unidentified aircraft entering Iranian airspace.
Fars news agency reported “three explosions” near Qahjavarestan, near Isfahan airport and the 8th Shekari army airbase.
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Iran’s space agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian said there was a “failed and embarrassing attempt to fly a quadcopter, but it was shot down”.
“There are no reports of missile attacks,” Dalirian said on social media platform X.
“Reports indicate there was no major damage or major explosion caused by the impact of any air threat,” the official IRNA news agency said.
The nuclear site was not damaged
Iranian Army Commander Abdolrahim Mousavi attributed Friday’s blast to “the firing of an anti-aircraft defense system on a suspicious object.”
The nuclear facility in Isfahan was reported to be “completely safe”, Tasnim said, and the UN atomic watchdog confirmed there was “no damage” to Iran’s nuclear sites.
Washington received advance notice of the reported Israeli strikes, but did not support or play any role in carrying them out, US media quoted officials as saying.
President Joe Biden has pledged strong support for Israel, but has also urged Israel to think carefully and strategically before launching a response once morest Iran that might trigger a wider war.
Israeli attacks on Syrian army positions were also reported on Friday, while an “explosion” hit an Iraqi base overnight.
Outside Baghdad, several people were injured in an explosion at a military base hosting the Iran-backed coalition, security sources said early Saturday.
Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Forces, or Hashed al-Shaabi, said the “explosion” caused material losses and injuries, without specifying how many.
No one has claimed responsibility and the US military has denied reports that it was involved.
A dangerous cycle of retaliation
Last weekend, Iran launched its first attack directly targeting Israel.
With the help of the United States and other allies, Israel intercepted most of the more than 300 missiles and drones it said had been launched by Iran. Light damage and no casualties.
Iran said its attack was in retaliation for the April 1 attack on its consulate in Damascus.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under international pressure over the high number of civilian casualties in the war in Gaza, and one analyst said the consulate attack allowed Israel to shift the focus of the war to Gaza.
However, the foreign ministers of the G7 group of developed countries, who met in Italy on Friday, continued to apply pressure.
The group said it opposed a “full-scale military operation in Rafah”, where most of Gaza’s population has taken refuge, as it would have “catastrophic consequences” for civilians.
Mediators have acknowledged that ceasefire negotiations in Gaza have stalled, but Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan appears to be trying his luck and will meet Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Saturday to discuss the conflict.
Space to get off
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called for an end to the “dangerous cycle of retaliation” in the Middle East, his spokesman said in a statement.
Analysts say further violence can be avoided.
Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at Britain’s Chatham House think tank, said the reported Israeli attack had been “calibrated to avoid further Iranian damage and aggression”.
“As long as Iran continues to deny the attack and divert attention and no further attacks are visible, there is still room for both sides to lower the level of escalation for now,” he said.
Nomi Bar Yaacov, a fellow with the think tank’s international security program, said the attack was “carried out in a way that allows Iran to deny the attack and draw a line in the sand.”
On the streets of Tehran, some people called for peace.
“We are once morest war,” said Behrouz, 71, a retired firefighter who did not give his last name. “We are not happy with the killing of people, whether they are Iranians, Israelis or Gazans.” (AFP/Z-3)
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