DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran fired air defenses on a major air base and nuclear site near the central city of Isfahan after spotting drones early Friday morning, raising fears of a possible Israeli strike in retaliation for the attack on Tehran. unprecedented drone and missile assault on the country.
It remains unclear whether the country was attacked, as no Iranian official has directly acknowledged the possibility and the Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment. However, tensions have been raised since the Saturday assault on Israel in the midst of its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its own strikes targeting Iran in Syria.
U.S. officials declined to comment Friday morning, but U.S. television networks, citing unnamed U.S. officials, said Israel carried out the attack. The New York Times cited unnamed Israeli officials who claimed responsibility for the attack.
Air defense batteries fired in several provinces following reports of drones in flight, state television reported.
In particular, IRNA said air defenses fired on a major air base in Isfahan, long home to Iran’s fleet of American-made F-14 Tomcats – purchased before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Tasnim then released a video of one of its journalists, who said he was in the Isfahan region, southeast of Zerdenjan, near its “nuclear energy mountain.” The footage showed two different anti-aircraft gun positions, and details in the video matched known features of the site of Iran’s uranium conversion facility in Isfahan.
“At 4:45 p.m. we heard gunshots. Nothing was happening,” he said. “It was air defense, these guys you watch, and over there too.”
The Isfahan facility operates three small research reactors supplied by China, as well as fuel production and other activities for Iran’s civilian nuclear program.
Isfahan is also home to sites associated with Iran’s nuclear program, including its underground Natanz enrichment site, which has repeatedly been the target of suspected Israeli sabotage attacks.
State television described all nuclear sites in the region as “completely safe.” General Siavosh Mihandoost, a local army commander, also told state television that the incident had caused “no damage” around Isfahan.
Iran’s nuclear program has rapidly progressed toward producing enriched uranium to near-weapon-making levels since its nuclear deal with world powers collapsed after then-President Donald Trump , withdrew America from the agreement in 2018.
While Iran insists its program is for peaceful purposes, Western countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency say Tehran ran a secret military weapons program until 2003. IAEA has warned that Iran now holds enough enriched uranium to build multiple nuclear weapons if it chose to do so. so – although the US intelligence community maintains that Tehran is not actively seeking the bomb.
Dubai-based carriers Emirates and FlyDubai began diverting to western Iran around 4:30 a.m. local time. They offered no explanation, although local warnings to fliers suggested the airspace may have been closed.
Iran then grounded commercial flights in Tehran and parts of its western and central regions. Loudspeakers informed customers about the incident at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini International Airport, videos online showed. Iran later restored normal flight service, authorities said.
Hossein Dalirian, a spokesman for Iran’s civil space program, said on social media platform X that several small “quadcopter” drones had been shot down. A journalist from Isfahan state television said the same thing in a live report, saying that “several small drones were flying in the sky above Isfahan and were targeted.”
Meanwhile, in Iraq, where a number of Iran-backed militias are based, residents of Baghdad reported hearing sounds of explosions, but the source of the noise was not immediately clear.
Friday’s incident in Iran also raised concerns about a further escalation of conflict in the Middle East seas, which have been the scene of attacks by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels on ships at war in Gaza.
The British Army’s Maritime Commercial Operations Center has warned ships in the region that they may see increased drone activity in the skies.
“There is currently no indication that commercial vessels are the intended target,” he wrote.
The Houthis have launched at least 53 attacks on ships, seized one ship and sunk another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Houthi attacks have declined in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a US-led campaign of airstrikes in Yemen and maritime traffic through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined due to the threat .
___
Associated Press journalists Nasser Karimi, Mehdi Fattahi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.