Iran’s state media reported explosions in central Isfahan Friday, as US media quoted officials saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on its arch-rival.
This is the latest tit-for-tat exchange between the two arch foes, whose decades of shadow war has broken out into the open and threatened to drag the region deeper into conflict.
Iranian media reported explosions, but an Iranian official told Reuters those were caused by air defense systems. State media said three drones over the central city of Isfahan had been shot down.
Israel’s leadership and the military were silent early on Friday.
The United States received notification before Israel’s attack, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters, which came days after Iran launched an unprecedented strike, opens new tab on Israel with a barrage of drones and missiles. Most of those were shot down.
Washington and other global powers had pressed to Israel not to respond, or to ensure any further retaliation, opens new tab was limited to prevent a broader conflagration after the latest surge in violence was sparked by the air strike on the Iranian embassy compound in Damascus on April 1 that was blamed on Israel.
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi had warned Israel before Friday’s strike that Tehran would deliver a “severe response” to any attack on its territory.
Iran told the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that Israel “must be compelled to stop any further military adventurism against our interests” as the U.N. secretary-general warned that the Middle East was in a “moment of maximum peril.”
Iran closed its airports in Tehran, Shiraz and Isfahan after the attack and also cleared flights from the western portion of its airspace for a few hours after the attack, according to FlightRadar24. By 0445 GMT the airports and airspace had reopened.
