Explosions in Isfahan Down Three Drones, Says Iranian Media

Isfahan is the location of a number of military sites [File: Iranian Army/WANA via Reuters]

Asif Iqbal | April 19, 2024 | 09:57 AM IST | Iran, World | Follow on Google News

Explosions in Isfahan Down Three Drones, Says Iranian Media

Explosions in Isfahan Down Three Drones, Says Iranian Media

Iranian state media said the country’s air defences brought down three drones over the central city of Isfahan, hours after US broadcasters, citing senior US officials, reported Israeli missiles had hit an Iranian state.

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

There were no reports of casualties.

The state broadcaster reported that at “around 1230 AM GMT” three drones were seen in the sky over Isfahan, air defence systems were activated and they “destroyed these drones in the sky.”

ABC News reported earlier, 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.

Israel promised to respond after Iran last Saturday launched a barrage of drones and missiles on the country, after a suspected Israeli strike on Iran’s consulate compound in Damascus killed two senior generals.

Iran’s space agency spokesman Hossein Dalirian said “several” drones had been “successfully shot down”.

“There are no reports of a missile attack for now,” Dalirian said on social media platform X.

Isfahan is considered a strategically important city and one that is host to several important sites, including military research and development sites, as well as bases. The nearby city of Natanz is the location of one of Iran’s nuclear enrichment sites.

Nuclear facilities in Isfahan were reported to be “completely secure”, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported, citing “reliable sources”

There were also reports of explosions in Iraq and Syria.

There were strikes on a Syrian army radar position,” said Rayan Maarouf, who runs the Suwayda24 anti-government website that covers news from Sweida province in the south.

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

Commercial flights began diverting their routes early on Friday morning over western Iran without explanation as the semi-official Fars news agency in Iran said there had been “explosions” heard over the city of Isfahan.

On Thursday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres painted a dark picture of the situation in the Middle East, warning that spiralling tensions over the war in 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 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.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by VoM News staff and is published from AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES)

Asif Iqbal

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