[News] Three drones downed after explosions heard in Iran’s Isfahan

[Anti-Imperialist News]

aljazeera.com
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/19/israeli-missiles-hit-site-in-iran-explosions-heard-in-isfahan-report>
Three drones downed after explosions heard in Iran’s Isfahan: State media
Al Jazeera
April 19, 2024
------------------------------

Iran’s air defences brought down three small drones
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/19/live-israel-launches-missile-attack-in-response-to-iran-assault>
over the central city of Isfahan, state media reported, hours after US
broadcasters, citing senior United States officials, said Israeli missiles
had hit an Iranian site.

Iranian state television reported explosions in Isfahan as air defences
were activated and flights across several areas, including the capital
Tehran and Isfahan, were suspended.

Airspace was reopened about four and a half hours after the incident and
there were no reports of casualties.

Second Brigadier General Siavash Mihandoust, the top military official in
Isfahan, told state media that air defence batteries hit “a suspicious
object” and there was no damage.

Earlier, ABC News reported, citing a senior US official, that Israel had
launched missiles at a site in Iran. CBS News also reported that an Israeli
attack had taken place.

Iranian media said no strikes were launched on Iran from outside the
country, and the attack was believed to have been carried out using small
quadcopters that would have to have been launched from inside Iran.

Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari said Iranian media was
downplaying the incident.

“The location in Isfahan province is an Iranian military airbase that
belongs to the country’s army, and not the Revolutionary Guards [Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps, IRGC]. I think it’s important to highlight
that,” she said. “This base houses multiple squadrons of F-14 Tomcat
fighter aircraft.”

Video Duration 00 minutes 23 seconds

The latest news from around the world. Timely. Accurate. Fair.

“We also understand that the air defence systems over the city of Tabriz in
the northwestern part of Iran were also activated,” Jabbari reported.

A military factory belonging to the Iranian army in Isfahan was attacked by
multiple quadcopters
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/2/iran-blames-israel-for-isfahan-drone-attack>
in January 2023, failing to damage the facility that was protected by air
defence batteries and mesh wiring on its roof to counter small unmanned
aerial vehicles.

Iran blamed Israel for that attack and arrested four people, executing one
of them in January 2024, for operating on behalf of Mossad, the Israeli spy
agency.

Israel had promised to respond after Iran last Saturday launched a barrage
of drones and missiles
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/14/iran-attacks-israel-with-over-300-drones-missiles-what-you-need-to-know>
on the country, after a suspected Israeli attack on Iran’s consulate
compound in Damascus
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/1/several-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-iranian-consulate-in-damascus-reports>
killed seven people, including two IRGC senior generals.

Isfahan is considered a strategically important city and one that is host
to several important sites, including military research and development
facilities, as well as bases. The nearby city of Natanz is the location of
one of Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites.
‘No damage’ to nuclear facilities

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that “there is no
damage” to Iranian nuclear sites as the United Nations nuclear watchdog’s
chief Rafael Grossi called for restraint and said nuclear facilities should
never be targeted in military conflicts.

The reported attack “was far more limited than many expected”, Iranian arms
control expert Ali Ahmadi told Al Jazeera, adding that Israel “has much
more limitations in its operational range” than many think.

“Certainly, after Iran’s retaliatory capacity was criticised, it benefits
from advertising how ineffective what Israel did was as well. Iran also
needs to prepare the public for a much softer reaction than it has talked
about in the last couple of days,” he pointed out.

Ahmadi said that prior to today’s incident, Iran was preparing all
sorts of options
for massive retaliation
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/18/iran-threatens-tit-for-tat-bomb-run-if-israel-attacks-nuclear-facilities>
including getting allies involved.

But considering the limited scope and impact of the alleged attack, which
he described as a “security sabotage” rather than a “military assault”, it
would be a mistake to carry out a massive response, he stressed.

There were also reports of explosions in Iraq and Syria, with Iranian state
media saying there were explosions at multiple military-linked sites in
Syria.

The US and a number of European countries had been calling on Israel not to
respond to Iran’s attack. There was no immediate comment from the White
House or Pentagon.

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres painted a dark picture
of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiralling tensions over
Israel’s war on Gaza and Iran’s attack on Israel could descend into a
“full-scale regional conflict”.

“The Middle East is on a precipice. Recent days have seen a perilous
escalation – in words and deeds,” Guterres told the UN Security Council.

“One miscalculation, one miscommunication, one mistake, could lead to the
unthinkable – a full-scale regional conflict that would be devastating for
all involved,” he said, calling on all parties to exercise “maximum
restraint.”
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