NPR (“Israel launches missile strikes into Iran, U.S. military official says“):
The Israeli military has conducted missile strikes against Iran, a senior U.S. military official told NPR on Thursday. There are also reports of explosions in Iraq and Syria.
The strikes appear to be the response Israel vowed to carry out after an Iranian attack on Sunday, when Tehran fired hundreds of drones and missiles at Israel. Most of Iran’s volleys were intercepted or caused little damage. The U.S. military official spoke on condition of anonymity Thursday.
Iran state news agency IRNA reported a military official in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, Brigadier General Mihan Dost, as saying loud sounds heard east of the city were the sound of air defenses intercepting what he called a “suspicious target” and that no damage was reported in the area.
Iranian news has not reported any such strike and has concluded the sounds reported near Isfahan were the interception of one or more drones. Israel’s military has not yet responded to NPR’s request for comment.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed on social media that there is no damage to Iran’s nuclear sites.
The extent of Israel’s strikes and the weapons used weren’t clear.
Meanwhile, Israel’s hardline National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, wrote on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that Israel’s latest apparent strike against Iran was “weak” and too limited.
NYT (“Live Updates: Israel Strikes Iran, but Scope of Attack Is Unclear“):
The Israeli military struck Iran early on Friday, according to two Israeli and three Iranian officials, in what appeared to be Israel’s first military response to Iran’s attack on Israel.
The Iranian officials said that a strike had hit a military air base near the city of Isfahan, in central Iran. The scale and method of the attack were unclear. And the initial reaction in both Israel and Iran was muted, with news media in both countries appearing to downplay the attack, in what analysts said was an attempt to de-escalate the situation.
[…]
- The Iranian officials said that the attack was carried out by small drones, possibly launched from inside Iran, and that its radar systems had not detected unidentified aircraft entering Iranian airspace. They said that a separate group of small drones was shot down in the region of Tabriz, roughly 500 miles north of Isfahan.
- Iranian news agencies reported that explosions were heard near both cities, adding that nuclear facilities in Isfahan had not been hit.
- In the aftermath, flight tracking websites showed that civilian planes had diverted their routes away from the area and Iranian news outlets reported that several airports had been closed. But within a few hours, Iran’s state television had broadcast footage of normal life resuming in Isfahan and Iran’s aviation agency said it was lifting flight restrictions.
[…]
The ripples in the oil market after Israel’s apparent strike were short-lived. Futures for Brent crude, the international benchmark, passed $90 a barrel but quickly fell back to about $87 a barrel as news reports indicated that the damage caused to Iran was minor and its reaction was muted.
[…]
Isfahan is one of Iran’s most famous and historic cities, known for its beautiful turquoise and purple tiled mosques, picturesque arched bridges and Grand Bazaar. The area also hosts a number of Iranian military sites.
[…]
Israeli missiles targeted air defense positions in southern Syria, according to SANA, the Syrian news agency, quoting a military source. The agency said the attack happened at 2:55 a.m. local time on Friday and caused some damage, without giving details. There was no immediate comment from Israel.
The Israeli government, quite reasonably, felt that it couldn’t not respond to Iran sending hundreds of missiles into their territory. At the same time, they were under enormous pressure not to escalate the situation further. So this is what we got: some token strikes on military facilities clearly calculated to cause minimal disruption.
One suspects this will be the end of this round of tit-for-tat.
