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Iran Fires at Israeli Drones 04/19 06:37
An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran saw troops fire air defenses at a
major air base and a nuclear site early Friday morning near the central city of
Isfahan, an assault coming in retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented
drone-and-missile assault on the country.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- An apparent Israeli drone attack on Iran
saw troops fire air defenses at a major air base and a nuclear site early
Friday morning near the central city of Isfahan, an assault coming in
retaliation for Tehran's unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the country.
No Iranian official directly acknowledged the possibility that Israel
attacked, and the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment.
However, tensions have been high since the Saturday assault on Israel amid its
war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its own strikes targeting Iran in Syria.
Speaking at the G7 meeting in Capri, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani
said the U.S. received "last-minute" information from Israel about the attack
on Isfahan.
United States officials declined to comment as of early Friday, but American
broadcast networks quoting unnamed U.S. officials said Israel carried out the
attack. The New York Times quoted anonymous Israeli officials claiming the
assault, which came on Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's 85th
birthday. Israeli politicians also made comments hinting that the country had
launched an attack.
Air defense batteries fired in several provinces over reports of drones
being in the air, state television reported. Iranian army commander Gen.
Abdolrahim Mousavi said crews targeted several flying objects.
"The explosion this morning in the sky of Isfahan was related to the
shooting of air defense systems at a suspicious object that did not cause any
damage," Mousavi said. Others suggested the drones may be so-called quadcopters
-- four rotor, small drones that are commercially available.
Authorities said air defenses fired at a major air base in Isfahan, which
long has been home to Iran's fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats -- purchased
before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Tasnim also published a video from one of its reporters, who said he was in
the southeastern Zerdenjan area of Isfahan, near its "nuclear energy mountain."
The footage showed two different anti-aircraft gun positions, and details of
the video corresponded with known features of the site of Iran's Uranium
Conversion Facility at Isfahan.
"At 4:45, we heard gunshots. There was nothing going on," he said. "It was
the air defense, these guys that you're watching, and over there too."
The facility at Isfahan operates three small Chinese-supplied research
reactors, as well as handling fuel production and other activities for Iran's
civilian nuclear program.
Isfahan also is home to sites associated with Iran's nuclear program,
including its underground Natanz enrichment site, which has been repeatedly
targeted by suspected Israeli sabotage attacks.
State television described all atomic sites in the area as "fully safe." The
United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, also
said "there is no damage to Iran's nuclear sites" after the incident.
The IAEA "continues to call for extreme restraint from everybody and
reiterates that nuclear facilities should never be a target in military
conflicts," the agency said.
Iran's nuclear program has rapidly advanced to producing enriched uranium at
nearly weapons-grade levels since the collapse of its atomic deal with world
powers after then-President Donald Trump withdrew America from the accord in
2018.
While Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, Western nations and
the IAEA say Tehran operated a secret military weapons program until 2003. The
IAEA has warned that Iran now holds enough enriched uranium to build several
nuclear weapons if it chose to do so --- though the U.S. intelligence community
maintains Tehran is not actively seeking the bomb.
Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western
Iran about 4:30 a.m. local time. They offered no explanation, though local
warnings to aviators suggested the airspace may have been closed.
Iran then grounded commercial flights in Tehran and across areas of its
western and central regions. Iran later restored normal flight service,
authorities said.
Around the time of the incident in Iran, Syria's state-run SANA news agency
quoted a military statement saying Israel carried out a missile strike
targeting an air defense unit in its south and causing material damage. The
Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an opposition war monitor,
said the strike hit a military radar for government forces. It was not clear if
there were casualties, the Observatory said.
That area of Syria is directly west of Isfahan, some 1,500 kilometers (930
miles) away, and east of Israel.
Meanwhile in Iraq, where a number of Iranian-backed militias are based,
residents of Baghdad reported hearing sounds of explosions, but the source of
the noise was not immediately clear.
The incident Friday in Iran also sparked concerns about the conflict again
escalating across the seas of the Middle East, which have been seeing attacks
by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen on shipping over the war in Gaza.
The British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center
warned ships in the region that they could see increased drone activity in the
skies.
"There are currently no indications commercial vessels are the intended
target," it wrote.
The Houthis have launched at least 53 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel
and sank another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted
by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen and as shipping through the Red Sea
and Gulf of Aden has declined over the threat.
The apparent attack also briefly spooked energy markets, sending benchmark
Brent crude above $90 before it fell again in trading Friday.
However, Iranian state-run media sought to downplay the incident after the
fact, airing footage of an otherwise-peaceful Isfahan morning. That could be
intentional, particularly after Iranian officials for days have been
threatening to retaliate for any Israeli retaliatory attack on the nation.
"As long as Iran continues to deny the attack and deflect attention from it
and no further hits are seen, there is space for both sides to climb down the
escalation ladder for now," said Sanam Vakil, the director of the Middle East
and North Africa program at Chatham House.
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