(MENAFN- Live Mint) "Israeli missiles have hit a location in Iran, ABC reported citing a US official on Thursday. Explosions and loud noises were heard in the city of Isfahan, according to Iranian semiofficial news agency. This came a week after Iran launched a drone and missile attack on Israel.
Iran's Mehr news agency stated that flights were suspended in Isfahan and the Iranian cities of Tehran and Shiraz as well as airports across the country's western borders. However, the details of the blast in Isfahan are unknown. The city is believed to have been one of several launch sites for Iran's April 13 attack.A retaliatory strike on IranIsrael launched a“retaliatory strike” on Iran less than a week after Tehran's drones and missiles attack, the US officials said while raising fears of a widening conflict across the Middle East.
On Thursday, Israeli officials had notified the United States that they planned to retaliate in the next 24-48 hours, said two US officials on the condition of anonymity as quoted by Bloomberg.
Also Read | Live updates on Israel-Iran tensionsPentagon spokesman Pat Ryder, in an official statement, said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant before the strikes were reported on Thursday.
Austin and Gallant discussed“regional threats and Iran's destabilizing actions in the Middle East”. However, the statement did not say if Israel warned the US about any strikes on Iran.
No foreign attack against IranSources told Iran's Press TV that no foreign attack took place on Iranian cities including Isfahan after the city's air defense systems were activated to intercept suspected drones earlier in the day.
“Explosions heard in Isfahan were a result of the activation of Iran's air defense systems. No missile attack took place against Iran,” an Iranian official told Reuters on Friday.
The Israeli military also said that warning sirens which sounded early on Friday in northern Israel were a“false alarm”. The sirens had gone off shortly after unconfirmed reports of Israeli strikes in Iran vowed to respond to Iranian weekend attackThe explosions reports came a week after Israel vowed to respond to Iran's unprecedented drone attack on weekend, leaving the region bracing for further escalation after months of fighting in Gaza.
Iran launched over 300 missiles and drones against Israel following Tel Aviv's attack on Tehran's embassy in Syria on April 1, which resulted in the killing of two Iranian Revolutionary Guards Secretary Janet Yellen later announced that Washington will impose new sanctions on Tehran, potentially aimed at diminishing the country's oil export capacity, would be imposed within days.
(With inputs from agencies)
MENAFN19042024007365015876ID1108114068
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.