After identifying drones early on Friday morning, Iran launched air defenses at a key air base and a nuclear plant close to the capital city of Isfahan. This raised concerns about a potential Israeli strike in response for Tehran’s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on the nation.
As no Iranian official explicitly raised the likelihood of an attack and the Israeli military did not reply to a request for comment, it was unclear whether the nation had been attacked. But since Israel’s attack on Saturday, amid its own strikes against Iran in Syria and its own conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, emotions have been high.
As of early Friday, American TV networks had reported, citing anonymous U.S. authorities, that Israel was the perpetrator of the strike. Nevertheless, U.S. officials had declined to comment. The New York Times quoted anonymous Israeli officials claiming the assault.
According to official media, air defense batteries in multiple regions opened fire in response to allegations of drone activity.
Specifically, IRNA said that air defenses opened fire on a significant air base in Isfahan, which has long housed Iran’s fleet of F-14 Tomcats, manufactured in the United States and acquired prior to the Islamic Revolution of 1979.
Later, Tasnim released a video that one of its reporters claimed to have taken while at Isfahan’s “nuclear energy mountain,” in the southeast Zerdenjan neighborhood. The video displayed two distinct anti-aircraft gun positions, and its details matched those of the recognized Iranian Uranium Conversion Facility site in Isfahan.
“We heard gunshots at 4:45. Nothing was happening,” he stated. The air defense, which is these troops you’re seeing, and over there too.”
Iran’s Isfahan facility, which operates three small Chinese-supplied research reactors and handles fuel production, has been hit by a drone incident. The incident occurred around Isfahan, which is home to sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program, including its underground Natanz enrichment site. The incident caused no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that there is no damage to the area. 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. Western nations and the IAEA have warned that Iran now holds enough enriched uranium to build several nuclear weapons if it choses to do so.
Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting around western Iran around 4:30 a.m. local time, and Iran grounded commercial flights in Tehran and across areas of its western and central regions. The incident has sparked concerns about the conflict escalating across the Middle East, which has been seeing attacks by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen on shipping over the war in Gaza.
(AP)
