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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/19/israeli-missiles-hit-site-in-iran-explosions-heard-in-isfahan-report">aljazeera.com</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Three drones downed after explosions heard in Iran’s Isfahan: State media</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Al Jazeera</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">April 19, 2024<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p>Iran’s air defences <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/4/19/live-israel-launches-missile-attack-in-response-to-iran-assault">brought down three small drones</a>
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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Airspace was reopened about four and a half hours after the incident and there were no reports of casualties.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Dorsa Jabbari said Iranian media was downplaying the incident.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
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<p>“We also understand that the air defence systems over the city of
Tabriz in the northwestern part of Iran were also activated,” Jabbari
reported.</p>
<p>A military factory belonging to the Iranian army in Isfahan was <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/2/2/iran-blames-israel-for-isfahan-drone-attack">attacked by multiple quadcopters</a>
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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Israel had promised to respond after Iran last Saturday launched a <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/14/iran-attacks-israel-with-over-300-drones-missiles-what-you-need-to-know">barrage of drones and missiles</a> on the country, after a suspected Israeli attack on <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/1/several-killed-in-israeli-strike-on-iranian-consulate-in-damascus-reports">Iran’s consulate compound in Damascus</a> killed seven people, including two IRGC senior generals.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<h2 id="gmail-no-damage-to-nuclear-facilities">‘No damage’ to nuclear facilities</h2>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>Ahmadi said that prior to today’s incident, Iran was preparing all sorts of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/4/18/iran-threatens-tit-for-tat-bomb-run-if-israel-attacks-nuclear-facilities">options for massive retaliation</a> including getting allies involved.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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”.</p>
<p>“The Middle East is on a precipice. Recent days have seen a perilous
escalation – in words and deeds,” Guterres told the UN Security Council.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
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