Calls for calm after reported attacks on Iran
AVIV: World leaders appealed for calm after reported Israeli retaliation against Iran added to months of tense spillover from the war in Gaza, with Iranian state media reporting explosions in a central province. Israeli officials made no public comment on the attack and Iranian officials played down its significance.
Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said Israeli micro-drones used in the operation had caused no deaths or damage, dismissing it as a “desperate attempt to make a victory out of their repeated defeats”.
But the spectre of direct hostilities between the Middle East arch-foes rattled world markets with prices of oil, gold and equities seesawing.
Israel had warned it would hit back after Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones almost a week ago in retaliation for a deadly April 1 air strike — widely blamed on Israel — that levelled the Iranian consulate in Damascus and killed seven Revolutionary Guards.
A senior US Congressional source said that there had been retaliatory Israeli strikes but declined to provide any details, saying they were classified.
After state television said explosions were heard near the city of Isfahan, Iran activated its air defence systems over several cities, official media reported.
An unidentified Israeli official told The Washington Post the “strike” was retaliation for Iran’s drone and missile barrage and was intended to signal that Israel was able to hit inside Iran.
Fars news agency reported “three explosions” close to Qahjavarestan, near Isfahan airport and the 8th Shekari army airbase.
Iran’s army commanderin-chief Abdolrahim Mousavi attributed explosions to “the firing of anti-aircraft defence systems on a suspicious object”.
Nuclear facilities in Isfahan were reported to be “completely secure”, Tasnim said, and the UN’S atomic watchdog confirmed “no damage” to Iran’s nuclear sites.
Washington received advance notice of Israel’s reported strike, but did not endorse it or play any part in its execution, US media quoted officials as saying.
However, foreign ministers of the G7 group of developed economies, meeting in Italy on Friday, kept up that pressure.
The group said they opposed a “full-scale military operation in Rafah”, where most of Gaza’s population is sheltering, because it would have “catastrophic consequences” for civilians.
UN chief Antonio Guterres has called for an end to “the dangerous cycle of retaliation” in the Middle East, his spokesman said. Analysts said further titfor-tat violence could be avoided.
A senior US Congressional source said that there had been retaliatory Israeli strikes but declined to provide any details, saying they were classified